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GIFT  OF 
Dr#   Horace   Ivie 


I 


Ce^  /{"/ft 


HISTORY 


The  United  States 


WRITTEN  FOR  THE 


CHAUTAUQUA  READING  CIRCLES. 


BY 

EDWARD  E.  HALE: 


NEW  YORK: 

CHAUTAUQUA     PRESS, 

C.  L.  S.  C.  Department, 

805  Broadway. 

1887. 


HISTORY 


The  United  States 


WRITTEN  FOR.  THE 


CHAUTAUQUA  READING  CIRCLES. 


BY 


EDWARD  E.  HALE. 


NEW  YORK: 

CHAUTAUQUA     PRESS, 

C.  L.  S.  C.  Department, 

805  Broadway. 

1887. 


£l.1« 


l4<a.k 


Kduc.  Ufei* 


GIFT  OF 


The  required  books  of  the  C.  L.  S.  C.  are  recommended  by 
a  Council  of  six.  It  must,  however,  be  understood  that  recom- 
mendation does  not  involve  an  approval  by  the  Council,  or  by 
any  member  of  it,  of  every  principle  or  doctrine  contained  in  the 
book  recommended. 

EDUCATION  DEFT 


Copyright  1CC7,  by  Phillips  &  Hunt,  So5  Broadway,  New  York. 


CONTENTS. 


PAeE 
CHAPTER    I. 

First  Voyages  of  Discovery 13 

CHAPTER  II. 
Virginia 30 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Settlement  of  New  England — Plymouth 41 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Settlement  of  Massachusetts 50 

CHAPTER  V. 
Philip's  War 63 

CHAPTER  VI. 
New  York,  1609 71 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Government  of  New  England  Changed 80 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Carolinas  and  Virginia — 1680-1700 91 

CHAPTER  IX. 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania 99 

CHAPTER  X. 
New  England  for  Sixty  Years ro8 

924187 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Southern  Colonies  from  1700-1754 118 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  French  and  Indian  War 126 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Colonial  Irritation 138 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Boston  Massacre 146 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Boston  Tea  Party 150 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Washington  in  Command 164 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Declaration  of  Independence 169 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Burgoyne  and  the  Campaign  of  1777 173 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
1778-1779 178 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  War  at  Sea 183 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  French  Alliance 191 

CHAPTER   XXII. 
End  of  the  War 205 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 
Settlement  of  the  West 214 


CONTENTS.  5 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  Texas 224 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
The  Federal  Constitution 242 

CPIAPTER  XXVI. 
Washington's  Presidency 253 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 
Three  Steps  of  Progress 259 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
The  Early  Diplomacy  of  the  United  States 2«5 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 
Adams,  Jefferson,  and  Madison 276 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
The  War  of  1812 293 


PREFAG-E 


THE  preparation  of  a  history  of  the  United  States  for 
the  Chautauqua  Literary  and  Scientific  Circle  has 
been  a  real  pleasure.  Of  course  the  council  understand,  when 
they  place  as  short  a  book  as  this  in  the  hands  of  readers, 
that  those  readers  will  wish  to  refer  to  the  more  full  studies 
which  illustrate  either  the  general  subject  or  special  details 
which  will  have  interest  to  different  persons  in  different  local- 
ities. The  master  work  of  Mr.  Bancroft,  which  brings  the 
history  of  America  down  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
will  be — or  should  be — within  reach,  in  some  public  library, 
of  each  of  our  readers  in  America.  The  Popular  History  of 
the  United  States,  edited  under  the  masterly  care  of  Mr. 
Sydney  H.  Gay,  one  of  the  first  of  American  historians,  brings 
the  history  down  to  the  end  of  the  Civil  War.  It  is  the  work 
of  many  writers,  of  whom  Mr.  Gay  is  easily  the  chief,  and  it 
may  be  referred  to  as  an  authority  of  the  first  class.  In  each 
neighborhood  local  histories  of  value  will  be  found  ;  and  it 
was  one  of  not  the  least  advantages  of  the  series  of  centennial 
celebrations  which  covered  the  years  from  1863  to  1883  that 
they  called  the  attention  of  students  in  every  part  of  the 
United  States  to  the  materials  yet  to  be  found  for  the  proper 
understanding  of  the  history  of  the  country.  Such  local 
histories  should  be  sought  for  by  our  readers  wherever  they 
are,  and  will  make  an  agreeable  accompaniment  to  the  study 
of  the  general  history  which  is  now  in  their  hands. 

It  is  quite  safe  to  say  that  we  understand  the  history  of  our 
own  country  better  than  it  was  ever  understood  before  ;  and 


8  PREFACE. 

while  there  are  still  many  things  concealed  which  we  should 
be  glad  to  know,  time,  as  it  passes,  uncovers  more  which  were 
hidden  by  the  prudence  or  timidity  of  the  past,  so  that,  on  the 
whole,  we  are  gainers  in  the  matter  of  history  as  time  goes  by. 
I<  must  be  confessed  that  the  habit  of  the  American  mind 
has  not,  on  trie- wh'cle,  been  favorable  for  the  writers  of  his- 
tory,  who  would  ;co]lect*. those  suggestions  or  illustrations  by 
which  we  make  the  past  appear  on  our  canvas  in  the  light 
of  to-day.  The  first  settlers  in  the  country  were,  perhaps, 
too  much  engaged  with  the  hard  duties  of  pioneers,  to  be  able 
to  give  much  time  to  the  description  of  those  picturesque 
and  romantic  surroundings  which  their  successors  would  be 
so  glad  to  look  upon.  It  happens,  oddly  enough,  that  it  is 
more  often  from  the  rapid  sketch  of  some  traveler,  who  is  not 
bound  down  by  the  cares  of  pressing  daily  duty,  that  we  are 
apt  to  catch  what  the  artists  would  call  the  broken  lights 
which  give  distinctness,  vividness,  and  even  interest,  to  the 
picture  of  the  past  which  we  are  trying  to  re-create.  Fortu- 
nately for  us,  it  happens,  in  some  instances,  that  the  work  of 
such  travelers  can  be  found.  In  particular  we  owe  to  the 
French  writers,  of  the  period  of  the  Revolution  and  of  the 
generation  which  follows  it,  some  hints  on  the  method  of 
daily  life  in  America  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  gain  from 
the  more  studied  and  serious  business  papers  which  our 
fathers  have  left  to  us. 

It  is  not  too  late  for  us  to  express  the  wish  and  the  hope 
that  the  students  in  the  Chautauqua  course  will  thus  under- 
take the  preservation  of  the  materials  of  local  history  in  the 
neighborhoods  in  which  they  live.  There  can  scarcely  be 
named  a  part  of  the  United  States— perhaps  there  cannot  be 
named  a  part  of  the  United  States— where  careful  conversa- 
tion with  the  aged,  careful  exploration  of  the  public  records, 
and  careful  investigation  of  files  of  old  letters,  or  of  old  books 
of  account,  would  not  bring  to  light  much  which  would  have 
historic  value  for  the  writer,  whoever  he  may  be,  who  is  to 
undertake  the  work  in  another  generation  which  has  been 
undertaken  in  the  book  which  is  now  in  the  reader's  hands. 


PREFACE.  9 

The  writing  of  our  history  is  no  longer  the  gathering  to- 
gether of  the  traditions  of  a  few  colonists  landing  from 
Europe  on  the  eastern  shore  of  America.  The  nation  of 
to-day  is  a  nation  which  is  to  seek  its  origin  not  only  in  the 
history  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  ;  but  in  the  history  of 
France,  of  Spain,  of  Holland,  of  Germany,  of  Russia,  and  of 
Mexico.  The  early  efforts  at  colonization  have  been  made 
from  different  motives,  by  men  of  wholly  different  training, 
and  in  very  different  ways.  The  original  memoirs  and  au- 
thorities which  explain  them  are  to  be  found  in  very  different 
places  and  languages.  Nothing  can  be  more  fascinating  than 
to  study  such  origins  in  the  early  documents  which  still  exist, 
or  in  the  traditions  which  will  not  exist  long.  And  we  cannot 
but  recommend  such  study  to  the  faithful  student  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  United  States. 

There  are  some  points  in  our  history  which  will  always, 
probably,  be  more  or  less  doubtful,  and  be  matters  for  discus- 
sion among  conscientious  students.  But  there  are  many 
points,  which  would  have  been  spoken  of  thus  doubtfully  a 
generation  ago,  which  may  now  be  considered  as  quite  def- 
initely settled.  The  first  of  these  is  the  arrival  of  the  North- 
men on  our  coast  at  the  end  of  the  tenth  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  Even  when  Mr.  Irving  wrote  his  Life  of 
Columbus,  such  a  discovery  of  America  seemed  matter 
rather  for  legend,  and  perhaps  only  of  fancy.  But  the  reader 
of  American  history  to-day  should  understand  that  the  fact 
may  be  considered  as  settled  beyond  doubt,  and  that  the 
questions  which  arise  are  simply  questions  of  detail  as  to  what 
may  have  been  the  farthest  point  gained  by  these  Northern 
explorers.  On  the  other  side  of  the  continent  it  has  been 
made  equally  clear,  by  the  investigations  of  the  Californian 
antiquaries,  that  vessels  from  Asia  could  have  arrived  on  the 
western  coast  in  any  of  the  centuries  from  Marco  Polo's  time 
down,  and,  probably,  for  many  centuries  before.  All  the  old 
questions  about  the  peopling  of  this  continent  from  any  stock 
different  from   the  stocks  which  peopled   Europe   and  Asia 

may  thus  be  dismissed  where  they  belong.     The   opening  of 
1* 


IO  PREFACE. 

the  archives  of  different  European  countries  to  investigation 
throws  more  and  more  light  on  such  fictions  as  have  sur- 
rounded the  voyages  of  Verrazano  and  others,  and,  on  the 
whole,  the  history  of  the  mythical  century,  as  we  have  ven- 
tured to  call  it,  is  better  understood  now  than  it  was  fifty 
years  ago. 

Of  the  colonial  history  proper,  careful  studies  were  early 
made  in  each  of  the  colonies.  But,  with  the  passion  for  scien- 
tific historical  investigation  which  belongs  to  our  time,  a  great 
deal  is  done  in  every  year  to  make  those  histories  more  human, 
if  we  may  so  say,  and  intelligible.  Such  work,  for  instance, 
as  Mr.  Weeden's  great  book  on  the  History  of  Commerce 
brings  under  one  point  of  view  subjects  of  which,  in  the 
past,  the  study  has  been  only  fragmentary,  disjointed,  and 
unsatisfactory  in  proportion. 

Of  the  Revolution,  of  its  causes,  its  methods,  and  its  results, 
we  certainly  know  much  more  than  Judge  Marshall  knew,  or 
even  George  Washington,  or  any  of  the  men  of  their  times. 
The  governments  in  possession  of  European  archives  are  no 
longer  coy  about  opening  to  students  the  papers  in  their  pos- 
session. We  know,  for  instance,  that  George  the  Third  was 
his  own  enemy,  and  the  enemy  of  Great  Britain.  We  know 
something  of  the  divided  councils  of  England,  and  of  the 
causes  which  led  to  division  ;  of  the  policies  of  France  and 
Spain  and  the  other  countries  of  Europe.  We  are  able  to 
make  a  study  much  more  complete  than  was  in  the  power  of 
Mr.  Botta,  Mr.  Grahame,  Judge  Marshall,  or  any  other  of  the 
earlier  historians. 

In  the  study  of  our  own  political  history  there  is  unques- 
tionably great  difficulty.  One  is  tempted  to  say  that  the 
American  statesman  has  a  habit  of  secretiveness  which  did 
not  belong  to  Sully,  or  to  the  Walpoles,  or  even  the  Pitts,  of 
other  generations.  One  is  tempted  to  say  that  because  certain 
measures  cannot  be  fully  discussed  before  the  great  audience 
of  all  the  people  of  America,  the  real  discussion  of  them  is 
left  to  the  privacy  of  confidential  language,  leaving  no  sign 
behind.     It  seems  as   if  this  happened   more  often  than  in 


PREFACE.  1 1 

Europe.  But  perhaps  this  is  what  historians  always  say  of 
two  or  three  generations  before  the  time  they  write  in.  This 
is  certain,  that  with  the  passage  of  years  we  obtain  more 
and  more  side  lights,  sometimes  from  very  unexpected  sources, 
as  to  the  methods,  and  even  as  to  the  actions,  of  the  men  who 
came  most  into  the  public  eye  in  the  first  generations  of  the 
Federal  Union.  It  is  more  and  more  certain  that  these  men 
were  not  as  important  as  they  thought  themselves,  and  as 
their  times  thought  them.  It  is  more  and  more  certain  that 
the  People  of  the  United  States  governs  the  United  States. 
It  directs  the  fortunes  of  the  United  States  even  where  the 
magistrates  of  its  election,  who  are  after  all  but  the  servants 
of  its  will,  have  not  rightly  comprehended  what  is  the  true 
destiny  of  the  republic.  It  is  certainly  a  curious  and  instruct- 
ive truth  that  the  three  great  victories  of  America,  in  the  first 
thirty  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Federal  Constitution, 
were  victories  in  no  sort  premeditated  by  the  chief  magistrates 
of  America,  and  to  which  it  may  be  said  their  administration 
of  government  did  not  in  any  way  contribute.  The  creation 
of  the  great  industry  by  which  cotton  was  raised  and  sent  over 
the  world — the  opening  and  maintenance  of  the  immense 
maritime  prosperity  of  thirty  years — the  marvelous  emigra- 
tion by  which  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  has  been  made 
the  store-house  from  which  the  world  is  fed — these  are  the 
three  important  features  of  the  first  fifty  years  of  American 
history.  In  regard  to  each  of  them  we  may  say  that  the  ad- 
ministration which  had  charge  of  the  "  government"  of  the 
country  knew  little  of  the  causes  which  led  to  it,  or  of  the 
methods  by  which  it  was  developed.  So  far  as  it  could  it 
did  much  to  check  them.  But  the  People  is  wiser  than  any 
man  of  the  people  ;  and  the  People,  under  the  direction  of 
the  God  who  always  smiles  on  well-meant  endeavor,  carried 
them  through. 

The  careful  reader  will  see,  in  more  than  one  instance,  that 
the  same  subject  has  been  referred  to,  and  even  the  same 
statement  repeated,  in  different  chapters  of  this  book.  It  is 
proper  to  say  here  that  this  is  not  an  accident  or  oversight, 


12  PREFACE. 

but  that  this  repetition  of  statement  has  been  decided  on,  as, 
on  the  whole,  convenient  to  such  readers  as  will  have  this 
book  in  hand.  It  would,  of  course,  have  been  quite  in  my 
power  to  have  referred  the  reader  from  chapter  to  chapter,  or 
from  page  to  page,  for  the  details  which  I  have  preferred  to 
repeat.  But  my  object  has  been  to  present  to  him,  what  he  is 
told,  in  the  way  easiest  for  him  ;  and  I  have  been  willing  to 
sacrifice  the  appearance  of  elaborate  finish,  if  I  could  give  to 
him  the  information  which  he  wished,  in  the  form  most  con- 
venient to  him.  EDWARD  E.  HALE. 
Roxbury,  Mass.,  May  5,  1887. 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  I. 
First  Voyages  of  Discovery. 

Northmen's  Discoveries — The  Icelandic  Accounts — Life  in  Rhode  Island — 
Expedition  Around  Cape  Cod  and  Into  Massachusetts  Bay — Skrael- 
lings — Return  to  Greenland — Another  Expedition  Entered  Buzzard's 
Bay — Skeleton  in  Armor — Columbus's  Discovery — Charter  to  John 
and  Sebastian  Cabot — Venetian  Discoveries — Mythical  Period  of  His- 
tory— Juan  Ponce  de  Leon's  Discovery  of  Florida — Verazzano — De 
Soto  Landed  in  Florida— De  Soto's  Death  and  Burial  in  the  Missis- 
sippi River — Failure  of  Spanish  Attempt  to  Colonize  Florida — Rumors 
and  Expeditions  in  Search  of  Great  Wealth  in  Northern  Mexico — Set- 
tlement of  Santa  Fe  and  St.  Augustine — Landing  of  Sir  Francis  Drake 
on  Pacific  Coast — Huguenots — Sir  John  Hawkins — Menendez — 
Revenge  on  the  Spaniards — Storming  of  San  Mateo — Defeat  of  the 
Spanish — Lane's  Settlement  at  Roanoke— That  Island  Abandoned — 
Arrival  of  Sir  Richard  Grenville — First  English  Child  Born  in  What 
is  Now  the  United  States — Gosnold's  Expedition  and  Settlement  of 
Cuttyhunk. 

THE  earliest  discovery  of  the  coast  of  the  United  States 
was  made  by  the  Northmen.  These  bold  navigators, 
having  made  themselves  quite  at  home  in  Iceland,  crossed  to 
Greenland,  and  early  in  the  eleventh  century  one  of  their  ex- 
peditions pressed  farther  south  and  reached  the  coasts  of  Nova 
Scotia  and,  probably,  of  Massachusetts.  The  only  narrative 
which  is  preserved  is  in  poetical  language  and  has  in  it  the 
elements  of  legend.  There  is  great  controversy  in  regard  to 
it  and  to  its  claims  as  history.  At  the  present  moment,  how- 
ever, the  balance   of  opinion   among    well-informed  people 


14  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

supposes  that  an  expedition  led  by  Leif,  a  Norse  prince,  in 
the  year  iooo  of  the  Christian  era,  passed  as  far  south  as  what 
is  now  known  as  Mount  Hope  Bay,  at  the  head  of  Narra- 
gansett  Bay,  in  Rhode  Island. 

The  Icelandic  accounts  go  into  a  good  deal  of  detail  as  to 
the  aspect  of  the  shores,  and  different  enthusiasts  point  out 
one  and  another  spot  which  they  consider  to  be  well  described 
now.  The  most  definite  sign,  however,  which  is  given  as  to 
their  locality  is  an  intimation  that,  on  the  shortest  day  of  the 
year,  the  sun  rose  at  half-past  seven  in  the  morning  and  set 
at  half-past  four.  If  this  observation  had  been  made  with 
mathematical  correctness,  and  with  instruments  of  perfection, 
the  latitude  of  the  point  where  they  spent  the  winter  would 
be  41  degrees,  24  minutes  and  10  seconds,  which  is  about 
that  of  Mount  Hope  Bay.  Their  own  phrase  is,  ''There  came 
no  frost  in  the  winter  to  this  country,  and  the  grass  hardly 
withered  there."  They  thought  the  nature  of  the  country 
was  so  good  that  cattle  would  not  require  house  feeding. 
With  our  more  luxurious  agriculture  this  seems  a  remarkable 
statement  to  make  of  southern  New  England.  But  it  is  quite 
within  the  memory  of  living  men  that  horses  were  left  with- 
out shelter  in  the  open  air  through  the  winter  in  Rhode 
Island. 

Leif,  having  determined  to  spend  the  winter  here,  divided 
his  company  into  two  parties,  one  of  which  should  be  a  party 
of  explorers,  while  the  other  watched  the  country.  They 
took  turns  in  this  duty.  A  German  named  Tyrker  returned 
from  one  of  these  expeditions  in  great  excitement.  At  first 
the  Icelanders  thought  he  was  out  of  his  mind.  But  he  said 
at  last,  in  their  own  language,  "  I  have  not  been  far  off,  but 
still  I  have  something  new  to  tell.  I  find  vines  and  grapes." 
"Is  that  true,  my  foster  father?"  said  Leif.  "True  it  is,"  he 
said.  "  I  grew  up  in  a  land  where  there  is  no  want  of  either 
vines  or  grapes." 

This  is  the  picturesque  account  which  is  given  of  the  dis- 
covery of  grapes  in  the  new  land,  which  gave  it  the  name  of 
Yinland.      This  statement  has  been  thought  to  show  that  the 


NORTHMEN.  1 5 

explorers  must  have  come  well  down  into  the  New  England 
region,  and  verifies  the  statement  made  with  regard  to  lat- 
itude. The  discovery  proved  to  them  to  be  an  important  one. 
They  gathered  the  grapes  in  great  quantities  and  heaped 
them  upon  the  stern  boat  of  their  vessel.  They  filled  the  hold 
of  the  vessel  with  timber  which  would  be  valuable  in  Green- 
land, and  with  this  cargo  returned  home  in  the  spring. 

In  fact,  as  Dr.  Gray  informs  us,  the  Fox  grape  of  the  New 
England  shore  may  be  traced  as  far  north  as  Massachusetts, 
and,  possibly,  in  New  Hampshire.  The  Vitis  cestivalis,  which 
is  also  eatable,  may  be  found  in  New  Brunswick.  The  Frost 
grape,  which  is  scarcely  eatable,  runs  into  Lower  Canada. 
There  is  some  doubt  whether  it  can  be  found  in  Nova  Scotia. 
Certainly  it  would  be  hard  to  load  a  boat  with  its  clusters. 

In  the  next  year,  the  year  1002,  the  brother  of  Leif,  named 
Thorvald,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  ancestor  of  the  great 
sculptor  Thorvaldsen,  repeated  the  voyage  with  a  crew  of 
thirty  men.  He  found  the  booths  still  standing  which  his 
brother  had  put  up,  and  he,  as  his  brother  had  done,  went 
into  winter  quarters  in  this  pleasant  land.  He  found  salmon 
and  other  fish  in  those  waters ;  and  here  again  is  an  accurate 
description  of  what  he  would  have  found  were  he  at  the  head 
of  Narragansett  Bay.  In  the  spring  Thorvald  coasted  to  the 
westward  and  is  supposed  to  have  gone  as  far  as  New  York, 
where  he  found  another  lake  through  which  a  river  flowed  to 
the  sea.  This  is  supposed  to  describe  the  Tappan-sea  of  the 
Dutch.  On  one  occasion  they  saw  a  shed  built  of  wood,  for 
the  housing  of  corn ;  but  they  saw  no  people. 

Having  remained  the  next  winter,  Thorvald  started  in  his 
ship  for  a  more  extended  expedition.  He  is  supposed  to 
have  doubled  Cape  Cod  from  the  south  and  entered  Massa- 
chusetts Bay.  At  the  head  of  that  bay  he  met  with  natives 
for  the  first  time.  These  natives  are  described  as  "skrael- 
lings."  They  were  small  men,  and  are  described  as  the 
Northmen  describe  the  Esquimaux  Indians.  The  impression 
has  thus  been  given  that  at  this  early  period  the  coast  of  New 
England  was  possessed  by  a  race  which  we  now  know  only 


1 6  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

in  the  Arctic  regions,  and  subsequently  dispossessed  by  the 
Algonquin  race  of  Indians  whom  the  English  found  there 
afterward.  But  of  this  conquest  by  the  Algonquins  no  trace 
has  been  found  in  their  legends  neither  are  any  skeletons 
of  Esquimaux  found  in  the  Indian  burial-places  of  New 
England. 

The  Northmen  stole  upon  nine  skraellings  unawares  and 
captured  eight  of  them,  whom  they  killed  in  cold  blood.  The 
ninth  escaped.  He  brought  back  with  him  his  fellows  to 
avenge  the  murder.  The  Northmen  fled  to  their  ships. 
After  the  running  battle  it  proved  that  Thorvald  had  been 
wounded.  He  died  there,  and  was  buried,  as  is  supposed,  on 
a  cape  which  looks  out  on  Boston  Bay.  At  his  head  and  feet 
they  planted  crosses.  They  sailed  back  around  Cape  Cod 
to  Vinland,  and  in  the  next  spring  they  returned  to  Green- 
land. In  the  spring  or  summer  of  1005  another  expedition 
sailed,  but  did  not  succeed  in  finding  Vinland,  or,  indeed, 
any  land.  But  in  the  year  1007  a  party  of  three  ships  and 
140  men  and  women  tried  the  adventure  again.  They  recog- 
nized the  points  discovered  before  ;  they  noticed  islands 
which  are  supposed  to  have  been  Nantucket  and  Martha's 
Vineyard,  and  they  entered  Buzzard's  Bay.  Here  they  spent 
their  first  winter.  But  they  were  not  sufficiently  provisioned, 
and  one  party  undertook  to  return  to  Iceland.  They  never 
reached  it,  however,  and  it  was  rumored  that  they  were  re- 
duced into  slavery  in  Ireland.  The  other  two  ships  sailed 
farther  on  and  made  other  explorations.  The  travelers  made 
a  settlement  which  might  have  been  permanent  but  for  an 
attack  of  the  natives.  They  are  described  as  being  black 
and  fierce,  with  coarse  hair,  large  eyes  and  broad  cheeks. 
The  expression  " broad  cheeks"  is  a  good  description  of  the 
American  Indians.  After  one  and  another  skirmish  and 
severe  attack  their  colony  was  given  up  in  the  year  1010. 

In  the  next  year  Freydis,  an  energetic  woman  who  had 
been  in  the  early  expeditions,  led  out  another  colony  and 
arrived  at  the  place,  which  by  this  time  was  well  known, 
where  Leif  had  built  his  booths.     But,  if  the  Saga  is  to  be 


EARLY  VOYAGES.  1 7 

believed,  the  party  having  quarreled,  more  than  half  of  them 
were  murdered  in  a  horrible  treachery,  and  with  the  spring 
the  survivors  returned  to  Greenland  or  Iceland.  With  this 
piece  of  savage  barbarism  the  history  of  ten  years  of  coloniza- 
tion ends  somewhat  suddenly. 

The  whole  history  is  so  romantic  that  every  effort  has  been 
made  to  corroborate  it  from  the  indications  now  or  recently 
to  be  found  in  New  England.  Of  these  the  most  interesting 
besides  those  which  have  been  mentioned  was  the  discovery 
near  Fall  River  of  the  "skeleton  in  armor,"  which  gives  the 
subject  of  one  of  Mr.  Longfellow's  early  poems.  But,  by  a 
misfortune,  this  skeleton  and  the  armor  were  burned  in  a 
museum  before  critical  attention  had  been  called  to  the 
Sagas  which  gave  us  this  description.  For  some  time  it  was 
supposed  that  there  was  another  monument  of  the  Northmen 
in  the  wind-mill  still  standing  on  the  little  public  square  at 
Newport ;  but  more  careful  investigation  showed  that  this  was 
built  as  a  wind-mill  in  the  second  generation  of  English  set- 
tlements. There  remains  to  be  noticed  here  a  curiously 
inscribed  rock  on  the  shore  in  Berkley,  in  Massachusetts,  near 
the  place  where  it  is  supposed  the  Northmen  settled.  But 
the  marks  heavily  cut  in  this  granite,  although  evidently  the 
work  of  men,  resemble  so  closely  the  marks  on  Indian 
blankets,  and  even  on  rocks  in  different  parts  of  the  United 
States,  that  no  real  argument  can  be  drawn  from  them. 

There  are  many  traditions  existing  in  early  European  his- 
tory of  voyages  made  across  the  Atlantic,  in  which  it  is  sup- 
posed that  the  explorers  discovered  a  new  land.  But  for  the 
purposes  of  the  history  of  the  United  States,  which  is  what 
engages  us,  these  need  not  be  examined  in  detail.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  the  success  of  the  Norse  adventure  was  one  of  the 
encouragements  which  Columbus  had  for  the  great  discovery 
in  which,  on  the  nth  of  October,  1492,  he  revealed,  for  prac- 
tical purposes,  the  western  continent  to  the  Old  World.  His 
success  was  followed  by  the  grant  of  Henry  VII.  in  England 
of  a  charter  to  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot  to  sail  westward  to 
attempt  a  similar  discovery.     It  is  now  quite  freely  said  that 


1 8  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

the  French  fishermen  of  the  coast  of  Biscay  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  taking  fish  off  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  long  be- 
fore that  time.  It  may  well  be  that  in  such  fishing  they 
were  acquainted  with  one  and  another  point  on  the  north- 
eastern coast  of  America  where  they  could  land  and  dry  their 
fish  ;  and  it  may  be  that  such  points  were  not  considered  of 
any  great  importance,  as  they  offered  but  little  that  was 
tempting  for  colonization.  Whether  the  Cabots  had  any 
information  from  such  persons  is  not  known.  What  is  cer- 
tain is  that  as  early  as  the  ioth  of  August,  1497,  there  is  a 
memorandum  in  King  Henry's  private  accounts  that  ten 
pounds  was  to  go  to  "  hym  that  found  the  new  isle."  On  the 
24th  of  the  same  month  the  Venetian  ambassador  in  England 
wrote  home  that  a  "  Venetian  who  is  a  very  good  mariner, 
and  has  good  skill  in  discovering  new  islands,  has  returned 
safe,  and  has  found  two  very  large  and  fertile  islands  ;  having 
likewise  found  the  seven  cities  four  hundred  leagues  from 
England  on  the  west.  In  the  spring  his  majesty  means  to 
send  him  with  fifteen  or  twenty  ships."  These  dates  are 
given  because  they  are  certain  dates.  What  is  very  perplex- 
ing in  the  narrative  is  that  an  early  map  is  found  in  which  it 
is  distinctly  said  that  Cabot  made  this  discovery  in  the  year 
of  the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  1494  ;  three  years 
earlier  than  the  date  given  in  the  account  book  and  in  the 
Venetian  letter.  But  this  map  cannot  be  regarded  as  of  the 
very  first  authority,  because  in  another  of  its  inscriptions  it 
says  that  the  great  discovery  was  made  in  the  year  1544. 
The  date  as  given  by  Hakluyt,  the  great  English  historian, 
is  1497,  and  this  date  must  be  taken  as  the  historical  date 
when  the  Cabots  made  their  landing  which  they  marked  as 
Prima  Vista.  So  far  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  small  map, 
which  is  the  earliest  representing  their  voyage,  they  struck 
the  continent  somewhere  near  the  eastern  point  of  the  Island 
of  Cape  Breton,  not  a  great  way  from  the  fortress  afterward 
so  distinguished  in  American  history,  Louisburg, '  The  island 
of  Newfoundland,  which  might  seem  to  bear  the  name  of 
being  the  first  point  of  discovery,  was  observed  in  one  of  these 


PONCE   DE  LEON.  I9 

early  voyages,  but  it  is  not  the  point  which  is  indicated  on  the 
Cabots'  map  as  Prima  Vista. 

From  this  time,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventeenth,  come  in  a  hundred  years  which 
have  been  well  called  the  mythical  period  of  our  history.  It  is 
in  those  hundred  years,  almost  mysterious,  that  poets  might 
place  their  imagined  histories,  and  that  the  really  adventurous 
novelist  might  run  wild  without  much  chance  of  correction. 
It  is  even  a  matter  of  question  who  first  laid  down  the  outline 
of  the  present  coast  of  the  United  States.  Sebastian  Cabot 
probably  made  a  voyage  far  south.  He  went  as  far  as  36  de- 
grees of  northern  latitude,  which  is  about  the  latitude  of  South- 
ern Florida.  But  although  he  landed  in  some  places  and 
found  copper  among  the  natives,  and  although  he  captured 
some  of  them,  he  left  no  outline  of  the  shore  which  is  now 
known.  Good  authorities  even  doubt  whether  he  ever  sailed 
south  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. 

The  first  narrative  of  any  adventure  in  which  we  know 
Europeans  to  have  made  any  considerable  progress  in  the 
United  States  of  to-day,  after  the  time  of  the  Northmen,  is 
that  by  Juan  Ponce  De  Leon.  He  had  heard  legends  in  the 
West  India  Islands  of  a  fountain  of  perpetual  youth  which 
was  to  be  found  in  Florida.  That  peninsula  had  not  then  re- 
ceived its  name.  He  sailed  from  Porto  Rico  with  three  ships, 
in  March,  15 12,  to  discover  it  ;  and,  passing  one  of  the  little 
"keys"  on  the  south  of  Florida  on  Easter  Sunday,  which  the 
Spaniards  call  "  The  Feast  of  Flowers,"  he  named  the  land 
Florida  because  it  was  covered  with  flowers.  His  account  of 
the  new  discovery  represented  it  as  a  very  important  one,  and 
he  was  made  its  first  governor  on  condition  that  he  would 
colonize  it,  which,  in  15  21,  he  attempted  to  do,  but  in  a  fight 
with  the  Indians  he  was  killed.  In  15 19  Garay,  the  Spanish 
Governor  of  Jamaica,  explored  the  gulf  coast  and  discovered 
that  Florida  was  not  an  island,  as  Ponce  De  Leon  had  sup- 
posed. In  these  expeditions  Fernandina  was  the  northern 
point  touched  by  the  Spanish,  and  on  some  of  the  old  maps 
there  is  a  blank  left  between  the   northern  point  of  Florida 


20  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

as  it  now  exists  and  the  region  which  we  call  the  British 
Provinces.  How  that  blank  was  filled  on  the  maps  of  the 
world  is  still  a  question. 

There  is  a  narrative,  which  finds  its  place  in  most  of  the 
histories,  of  an  exploration  made  by  a  pirate  named  Verraz- 
ano  who  sailed  under  a  commission  from  the  King  of  France. 
According  to  his  own  account,  he  struck  the  land  on  the  34th 
parallel  in  the  spring  of  1524.  According  to  the  same 
account  he  sailed  to  the  50th  degree  of  northern  latitude. 
In  the  older  histories  he  is  generally  called  the  first  discoverer 
of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States.  But  as  he  says 
he  found  lilies  and  roses  in  New  Jersey  in  the  month  of  April, 
as  he  found  the  Indians  in  Rhode  Island  making  wine  and  oil 
before  the  sixth  of  May,  as  every  other  detail  in  this  expedi- 
tion is  such  as  a  vivid  imagination  supplies  readily  and 
easily,  it  must  be  doubted  whether  any  facts  are  at  the 
bottom  of  his  narrative. 

It  really  seems  probable  that  the  conjecture  of  Mr.  Stevens 
is  to  be  taken  as  the  basis  of  real  history.  This  writer  sup- 
poses that,  while  the  geographers  of  the  East  were  still  under 
the  impression  that  America  was  a  part  of  Asia,  some  one,  who 
knew  that  the  land  of  Asia  in  those  latitudes  was  unbroken 
by  any  deep  strait,  drew  in  an  imaginary  line  of  the  United 
States,  from  Florida  to  what  was  called  the  land  of  the  Bac- 
alaos.  Mr.  Stevens  supposes  that  subsequent  navigators  when 
they  touched  the  real  coast  of  the  United  States  improved 
upon  this  imaginary  line.  In  this  way  it  may  be  said,  almost 
without  a  paradox,  that  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United 
States  was  never  at  any  one  moment,  or  by  any  one  voyage, 
discovered  to  Europe. 

Had  there  been  any  rumor  or  hope  of  discovery  of  gold 
in  these  cases  the  Spaniards  would  have  pressed  their  dis- 
coveries in  that  direction.  But,  in  truth,  they  were  more 
tempted  elsewhere.  An  expedition  in  quest  both  of  gold  and 
other  wealth  was  led  out  from  the  West  Indies  in  1528  by 
Pamphilo  de  Narvaez.  He  landed  in,  or  near,  Tampa  Bay 
two  days  before  Easter,  and  from  that  time  he  and  his  com- 


DE   SOTO.  21 

panions,  becoming  more  and  more  wretched  in  different 
extremities,  explored  the  region  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico. To  us  of  to-day  the  most  interesting  result  of  this 
expedition  is  that  four  survivors,  who  were  made  slaves  by 
the  Indians,  wandered  from  tribe  to  tribe  for  six  years,  and, 
having  passed  through  our  present  Texas  and  the  Mexican 
province  of  Sonora,  came  out  at  last  on  the  northern  settle- 
ments of  the  Spaniards,  near  the  Gulf  of  California.  It  was 
the  information  which  these  people  gave  with  regard  to  the 
somewhat  civilized  Indians,  of  whom  the  remnants  exist  in 
the  Zunis  and  Moquis  of  to-day,  which  set  the  Spaniards 
upon  exploration  in  that  region. 

But  before  these  survivors  were  heard  from,  Hernando 
De  Soto,  one  of  the  followers  of  Pizarro,  in  Peru,  had  obtained 
a  gift  of  the  province  of  Florida  from  the  crown,  and  landed 
with  nearly  a  thousand  men  for  its  settlement.  They  arrived 
in  Tampa  Bay  on  May  30,  1539. 

De  Soto  for  two  or  three  years  was  engaged  in  wars  with  the 
natives,  in  marches  to  and  fro,  and  in  the  attempt  to  discover 
the  site  where  he  should  establish  a  great  empire.  At  last  he 
died  on  the  shore  of  the  Mississippi  River,  on  May  21,  1542, 
and  was  buried  in  its  waters. 

On  July  2,  1543,  the  wretched  remnant  of  the  expedition, 
372  persons,  embarked  in  boats  which  they  had  built  on  its 
shore,  sailed  down  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  at  last 
reached  the  Spanish  colony  of  Panuco  on  the  shore  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Twenty  years  after,  yet  another  Spanish 
expedition  attempted  to  colonize  Florida;  but  this  expedition 
also  failed,  and  returned  to  Mexico  in  156 1. 

The  arrival  in  the  north  of  Mexico  of  the  four  unfortunate 
men  who  had  escaped  from  the  expedition  of  Narvaez  set 
the  whole  of  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  of  the  other  parts  of 
the  country  inhabited  by  Spaniards,  in  a  blaze.  These  men 
had  brought  with  them  what  were  more  exaggerated  even  than 
most  travelers'  stories.  They  gave  accounts  of  well-built  cities 
several  stories  high,  of  people  who  had  silver  and  gold  quite 
without  limit,  and  decorated  themselves  with  turquoises.    The 


22  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

governor  of  that  time  thought  that  there  was  a  new  Peru 
open  to  him  upon  the  North,  and  fitted  out  quite  a  strong 
expedition  under  the  command  of  a  cavalier  named  Coronado. 
This  expedition  started  for  the  North  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  1540.  At  the  same  time  an  expedition  was  sent  to  explore 
the  then  unknown  Gulf  of  California,  of  which  the  opening 
had  been  discovered  a  short  while  before  by  Cortes  himself. 
The  maritime  expedition  followed  up  the  eastern  coast  of 
California,  and  opened  up  the  river  known  to  us  as  the  Colorado 
River.  But  they  made  no  connection  with  the  expedition 
which  had  proceeded  by  land.  This  party,  after  crossing  the 
Desert  of  Sonora,  came  into  the  country  which  has  quite 
within  our  generation  been  opened  up  to  general  travel,  and 
found  the  well-built  cities,  but  did  not  find  the  amount  of 
gold  and  silver  and  turquoises  which  they  had  expected.  The 
next  summer  a  strong  party  of  horsemen  pressed  as  far  East 
as  the  Mississippi  River  and  returned.  After  a  year  or  two 
of  such  occupancy  Coronado  himself  died  from  a  fall  from 
a  horse,  and  the  remains  of  the  party,  dissatisfied  with  the 
almost  constant  fighting  with  the  hardy  natives,  and  with  the 
inadequate  return  for  such  adventure,  retired  upon  Mexico. 
The  half-civilized  inhabitants  of  the  cities  of  which  we  know 
the  relics,  in  the  city  of  Zuni,  now  were  left  for  centuries 
unmolested.  At  the  end  of  this  century,  however,  about  the 
year  1580,  an  expedition  of  travelers  struck  the  River  Del 
Norte  and  followed  it  as  far  as  our  present  city  of  Santa  Fe. 
That  city,  founded  by  Onate  about  1595,  and  St.  Augustine, 
in  Florida,  are  the  oldest  cities  in  the  United  States. 

Between  the  return  of  the  expedition  of  Coronado  and 
the  outfit  of  the  expedition  which  was  to  settle  Santa  Fe,  a 
celebrated  English  voyager  came  to  the  western  shore  of  the 
United  States.  It  thus  happened  that  this  country,  which  was 
destined  to  use  the  English  language  and  to  be  inhabited 
by  races  of  an  English  origin,  first  came  into  the  real  pos- 
session of  the  English  Crown  by  Sir  Francis  Drake's  taking 
possession,  in  the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  of  a  bay  in  the 
Pacific.    The  geographers  are  not  wholly  agreed  as  to  what  the 


SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE.  23 

port  was  on  that  coast,  where  Drake  landed,  repaired  his  ship 
and  took  possession  in  the  queen's  name.  It  must  have  been 
either  Jack's  Bay,  just  outside  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  or 
the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  itself.  But  the  somewhat  broken 
description  which  we  have  of  the  harbor  does  not  very  per- 
fectly describe  either  of  these  bays  as  they  exist  at  present. 
What  is  certain  is,  that,  in  that  latitude  of  37J  degrees,  or  as 
near  it  as  the  rude  instruments  of  the  time  would  show,  Drake 
landed  in  June,  1579,  careened  his  vessel,  the  Victory,  which 
needed  cleaning  and  repairs  sadly,  and  established  a  camp, 
where  he  rested  for  five  weeks.  The  simple  natives  of  the 
country  thronged  around  the  Englishmen  in  large  numbers, 
supposing  that  they  were  gods,  and  offering  sacrifice  to  them. 
But  Drake,  with  a  stern  renunciation,  refused  to  receive  their 
worship.  He,  however,  received  them  very  cordially,  made 
them  presents,  and  edified  them  by  inviting  them  to  be 
present  when  he  and  his  rough  companions  attended  divine 
worship.  They  represented  that  it  was  their  wish  to  make 
him  their  king  ;  but  Drake  explained  to  them  that  he  was  him- 
self but  the  subject  of  a  higher  power.  He  thought  he  made 
them  understand  who  Queen  Elizabeth  was,  and  interested 
them  when  he  took  possession  of  that  region,  which  he  called 
Nova  Albion,  in  her  name.  To  their  regret,  after  his  ship 
was  repaired,  he  departed  for  the  West  and  crossed  the  ocean 
to  the  East  Indies.  The  English  Crown  never  made  any 
claim  for  this  territory  under  the  pretext  of  Drake's  discov- 
eries. It  was  reserved  for  the  descendants  of  Drake's  coun- 
trymen, nearly  three  centuries  afterward,  to  take  possession 
of  California  by  conquest,  after  it  had  long  been  in  the  hands 
of  the   Spaniards. 

The  ill-success  of  Ponce  De  Leon  and  of  De  Soto  would 
have  discouraged  other  Spanish  efforts  in  Florida,  or  on  the 
coast  of  what  we  now  call  South  Carolina,  but  for  the  passion 
of  religious  hatred,  which  proved  to  be  stronger  even  than  the 
thirst  for  gold.  As  early  as  the  year  1562,  under  the  patron- 
age and  foresight  of  the  great  Admiral  Coligni,  a  small  French 
colony  established  itself  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John  River. 


24  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  settlers  were  Huguenots.  They  took  possession  in  the 
name  of  the  King  of  France  and  built  a  little  fort  which  they 
called  Charles  Fort.  The  place  has  been  recognized  in  later 
times.  It  is  at  a  spot  known  as  Archer's  Creek,  a  few  miles 
from  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  in  the  Bay  of  Port  Royal. 
The  settlers  chose  wisely,  if  a  good  harbor  justified  their 
choice.  But  after  two  years  of  various  adventure  they  removed 
their  colony  to  what  they  knew  as  the  River  of  May,  which 
is  our  St.  John's  River  ;  and  here  they  established  themselves 
at  Fort  Caroline,  of  which,  also,  the  site  is  well  known.  In 
the  year  1565,  Laudonniere,  their  energetic  leader,  saw,  to  his 
delight,  a  fleet  approaching  at  a  time  when  his  colony  was 
sadly  in  need  of  succor.  He  supposed  that  these  were 
vessels  bringing  him  help  from  Coligni.  It  proved  that  it 
was  an  English  fleet  under  the  command  of  Sir  John  Hawkins, 
who  was  the  first  man  to  engage  England  in  the  slave  trade. 
Hawkins  left  one  of  his  vessels  behind  him,  and  the  colony 
took  heart  by  his  visit.  A  few  days  after,  the  expected  relief 
arrived  from  France.  Laudonniere,  who  had  done  every 
thing  for  the  colony,  was  displaced  under  false  charges  and 
Ribault  was  named  as  his  successor.  Ribault  learned  at  once 
that  the  charges  made  against  Laudonniere  were  false,  and 
offered  to  build  another  fortress  for  his  own  company.  But 
before  the  offer  could  be  tested  the  new  comers  and  the  old 
comers  were  fighting  for  their  lives. 

Menendez,  a  Spanish  commander,  had  led  a  crusade 
against  these  heretics,  and  with  a  party  much  stronger  than 
theirs  had  come  upon  the  coast  to  destroy  them.  He  stormed 
the  little  fort  and  massacred  all  of  the  prisoners  whom  he 
could  take,  with  one  or  two  exceptions.  "  Two  youths,  and 
the  fifer,  trumpeters  and  drummers  were  spared.  The  rest 
were  put  to  the  sword,  judging  this  to  be  expedient  for  the 
service  of  God,  our  Lord,  and  Your  Majesty."  Ribault's  beard 
was  sent  to  Spain  as  a  trophy.  His  head  was  divided  into 
four  quarters  and  stuck  up  on  lances  at  the  corners  of  the 
fort.  The  place  of  the  massacre  is  known  to  this  day  as  the 
"Bloody  River  of  Matanzas." 


ST.  AUGUSTINE.  25 

Having  thus  crushed  the  heretics  Menendez  laid  out  and 
established  the  town  of  St.  Augustine.  It  was  on  the  festival 
day  of  that  saint,  the  28th  of  August,  that  the  Spanish  fleet 
had  run  into  the  river  of  St.  John.  Three  years  passed  away, 
and  he  and  his  Spaniards  had  forgotten  their  own  treachery 
and  cruelty,  when  three  small  vessels,  which  proved  to  be 
French,  arrived  in  the  river.  They  were  under  the  com- 
mand of  De  Gourgues,  a  French  Huguenot  of  high  reputa- 
tion, who  had  heard  of  the  massacre  of  his  countrymen.  He 
had  recruited  a  party  with  the  single  purpose  of  taking  re- 
venge. Landing  on  the  shore  of  Florida  he  put  himself  in 
communication  with  the  Indians,  who  had  already  learned  to 
hate  the  Spaniards,  and  was  received  by  them  with  delight. 
Their  warriors  were  all  called  in  to  join  the  French.  De 
Gourgues  surprised  the  Spanish  fort  exactly  as  Menendez  had 
surprised  Fort  Caroline,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  massacre 
of  three  years  ago  had  been  revenged,  and  only  fifteen  Span- 
iards were  left  alive  of  that  little  garrison.  The  soldiers  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river  easily  understood  what  had  taken 
place.  They  were  alarmed,  as  they  well  might  be.  They 
fled  for  their  lives,  but  the  French  and  the  Indians  fell  upon 
them,  and  of  this  party  also  only  the  same  number,  fifteen, 
were  saved. 

Encouraged  by  this  success  De  Gourgues  and  his  party 
stormed  San  Mateo,  the  other  Spanish  fort,  and  scarcely  any 
of  this  garrison  escaped.  When  the  carnage  was  over  nearly 
four  hundred  Spaniards  lay  unburied.  Before  their  burial 
De  Gourgues  dealt  with  those  who  still  lived.  Near  him 
were  the  trees  on  which  Menendez  hanged  his  prisoners  with 
the  inscription,  "  I  do  this  not  as  unto  Frenchmen,  but  as  to 
Lutherans."  To  the  same  trees  De  Gourgues  now  led  his 
prisoners  for  execution,  and  placed  over  them  the  inscription, 
u  I  do  not  this  as  unto  Spaniards,  nor  as  unto  Maranes,  but 
as  unto  traitors,  robbers  and  murderers." 

He  destroyed  the  fort  which  he  had  taken  and  bade  good- 
bye to/his  Indian  allies.  "  I  am  willing  to  live  longer,"  said 
an  old  woman,  ''for  I  have  seen  the  French  return  and  the 
2 


i> 


26  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Spaniards  killed."  He  did  not  dare  attack  the  stronger  forti- 
fication at  St.  Augustine,  and  withdrew  just  in  time.  For  the 
Spanish  king  had  heard  of  his  expedition  and  had  sent  out  a 
fleet  in  pursuit.     It  did  not,  however,  overtake  him. 

A  few  years  after,  in  1570,  a  little  Spanish  colony  was  at- 
tempted, by  some  devoted  Jesuits,  on  the  Rappahannock  ;  but 
these  men  were  killed  by  the  Indians  in  the  first  winter. 
Thus  was  it  that  the  only  Spanish  stations  within  the  present 
limits  of  the  United  States  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cent- 
ury were  the  little  colony  at  San  Augustine  and  the  settle- 
ment at  Santa  Fe,  in  the  valley  of  the  river  Del  Norte. 

Meanwhile,  as  early  as  1553,  there  was  formed  in  London 
a  mercantile  company  for  western  or  north-western  dis- 
covery. From  that  period  to  our  own  time  there  was  hope 
in  England  of  discovering  a  passage  to  China  through  the 
north  of  North  America.  It  was  not  until  the  year  1853  that 
McClure,  an  English  captain,  passed  around  North  America 
from  Behring  Strait  to  Baffin's  Bay.  Before  that  time  Sir  John 
Franklin,  as  we  now  know,  had  discovered  a  passage  from 
sea  to  sea,  but  he  and  his  crew  all  died  without  carrying 
the  news  of  their  discovery  to  England.  Much  of  McClure 's 
journey  was  made  on  foot  on  the  ice  ;  but  it  is  now  known, 
as  it  was  hoped  by  the  London  merchants  who  formed  the 
North-west  Company,  that  the  ocean  of  the  Pacific  and  that 
of  the  Atlantic  unite  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  American 
continent. 

In  one  and  another  effort  to  discover  this  passage  various 
expeditions  were  fitted  out  for  the  last  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  In  1583  Walter  Raleigh,  one  of  the  remarkable 
men  of  his  time,  took  a  warm  interest  in  one  of  these  expe- 
ditions. Humphrey  Gilbert,  who  had  won  great  honor  in  the 
conquest  of  Ireland,  and  as  a  soldier  elsewhere,  was  put  in 
command  of  a  squadron  of  five  ships.  They  sailed  from  En- 
gland for  a  voyage  really  in  quest  of  gold.  But,  in  very  rough 
weather  on  the  dangerous  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  they  lost  their 
largest  vessel  and  were  obliged  to  return  to  England.  Gil- 
bert himself  was  lost  in  the  Golden  Hind,  a  vessel  of  only  ten 


COLONY  IN  CAROLINA.  27 

tons  burden.  He  was  last  seen  sitting  in  the  stern  of  the 
boat,  for  it  was  nothing  more,  with  a  book  in  his  hand,  and 
to  the  hail  of  the  other  vessel  answered,  "  We  are  as  near 
heaven  by  sea  as  by  land."  They  were  his  last  words,  and 
they  have  become  proverbial. 

Raleigh  was  not  discouraged.  He  sent  out  another  expe- 
dition in  1584,  under  Amadas  and  Barlow.  They  were  di- 
rected to  go  farther  south,  and  by  way  of  the  Canaries  and 
the  West  Indies  they  made  the  shore  of  North  Carolina  on 
the  4th  of  July.  They  landed  at  an  island  which  they  called 
Wocokon.  After  landing  and  examining  the  keys  and  creeks 
of  the  neighborhood  they  were  visited  by  Indians,  who  were 
friendly,  and  were  cordially  received.  They  were  charmed 
with  all  they  saw  of  the  country,  with  the  trees  and  fruits 
and  especially  the  grapes,  the  Indian  corn,  the  fish,  the  game 
and  the  people.  The  Indians  themselves  were  not  unwilling 
to  return  to  England  with  them,  and  two  of  the  natives  were 
carried  back  that  they  might  see  the  grandeur  of  the  country 
from  which  the  whites  had  sailed.  A  large  bracelet  of  North 
Carolina  pearls  was  brought  for  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  Such 
success  was  new  in  this  navigation. 

Queen  Elizabeth  was  interested,  and  permitted  Raleigh  to 
give  the  name  of  "Virginia"  to  the  country  which  he  had 
discovered,  in  honor  of  her  own  virgin  reign.  A  large  expe- 
dition was  fitted  out  next  year  with  the  intention  of  estab- 
lishing a  colony,  which  was  put  under  the  charge  of  Ralph 
Lane.  Ralph  Lane  was  a  soldier  who  also  had  served  in  Ire- 
land. He  thought  very  highly  of  himself,  but  seems  to  have 
had  none  of  the  qualifications  of  a  real  leader.  Some  able 
men,  however,  went  with  Lane,  the  most  interesting  of  whom, 
in  after  history,  are  Hariot,  a  distinguished  mathematician,  and 
Sir  Richard  Grenville,  who  commanded  the  fleet,  and  whose 
name  is  mixed  in  with  all  the  history  of  Elizabeth  and  her 
time.  The  squadron  was  three  months  in  crossing  the  At- 
lantic. In  making  the  coast  of  North  Carolina  we  now  know 
that  they  made  the  most  dangerous  and  difficult  coast  on  the 
American    shore.     But  they  were  not  unfortunate    in   their 


28  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

landing,  and  with  good  hope  the  colony  established  itself  on 
the  island  now,  as  then,  known  as  Roanoke  Island.  Traces 
of  their  work  may  be  found  on  this  island  to  this  day.  Gren- 
ville  returned  with  the  fleet  and  Lane  was  left  with  his  men 
for  the  foundation  of  the  new  State. 

It  is  hard  to  say  whether  it  was  Lane's  incapacity  or  the 
cowardice  of  his  people  which  prevented  the  success  of  the 
colony  from  which  Raleigh  had  hoped  so  much.  What  is 
certain  is,  that  after  spending  one  winter  on  Roanoke  Island, 
and  making  sundry  adventures  in  travel  in  the  next  summer, 
they  seized  eagerly  on  the  opportunity  offered  them  when 
Drake  touched,  with  a  squadron,  on  their  shore,  to  go  home 
to  England.  Drake  offered  to  leave  them  a  vessel,  which 
would  have  been  all  that  they  needed  for  their  success.  But 
they  were  tired  of  their  new  home,  and  departed  in  confusion, 
"as  if  they  had  been  chased  thence  by  a  mighty  army." 

They  had  hardly  been  gone  a  fortnight  when  Sir  Richard 
Grenville  arrived  with  three  ships  well  provided  with  supplies. 
He  found  no  colony  there,  but  left  fifteen  men  to  hold  pos- 
session and  returned.  Raleigh,  not  yet  discouraged,  sent  out 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  the  year  1587.  The  governor 
was  John  White,  who  instantly  quarreled  with  the  admiral, 
Ferdinando.  They  did  not  find  the  fifteen  men  whom  Gren- 
ville had  left.  They  did  find  the  bones  of  one  man.  A  part 
of  them  remained  while  White  returned  to  England  to  ask 
for  further  assistance.  Three  years  after,  in  1590,  he  landed 
again  in  Virginia  with  the  help  which  he  had  promised.  But 
the  colony  had  disappeared.  On  the  18th  of  August,  1587, 
while  White  was  still  with  them,  a  girl,  who  was  christened 
Virginia,  was  born.  She  was  the  first  child  of  English  par- 
ents born  in  the  region  which  we  call  the  United  States.  Ro- 
mance and  art  have  remembered  her  name,  and  it  is  supposed 
that  she  grew  up  to  womanhood  among  the  Indians.  There 
are  tantalizing  approaches  to  some  knowledge  of  this  handful 
of  people.  In  a  tract  written  by  Strachey  he  says  :  "  Before 
I  have  done  I  will  tell  you  the  story  of  the  lost  colony." 
And  this  is  the  last  that  is  heard  of  them,  for  in  Strachey's 


CUTTYHUNK   ISLAND. 


29 


book,   as  we  now   have  it,  there  is  no   further  allusion   to 
them. 

Another  company  of  adventurous  London  merchants  sent 
out  an  expedition  under  Gosnold,  in  the  year  1602,  who  ex- 
plored the  more  northern  part  of  the  region  which  we  call 
the  United  States,  to 
which  the  general 
name  of  Virginia  was 
then  given.  They  also 
proposed  a  settlement, 
and,  finding  an  island 
which  was  not  inhab- 
ited, they  established 
themselves  there. 
These  early  adventur- 
ers were  all  afraid  of 
savages,  and  preferred 
islands,  with  all  their 
inconveniences,  for 
their  homes.  The 
site  of  Gosnold's  set- 
tlement is  perfectly 
known.  It  is  a  little 
island,  unfrequented 
to  this  day,  called  Cut- 
tyhunk  Island,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Buz- 
zard's Bay  of  our  pres- 
ent geography.  In  a 
lake  in  this  island  was 
a  second  island,  and  on  this  they  built  their  fort,  of  which  eager 
antiquarians  can  still  find  some  relics.  After  remaining,  how- 
ever, a  few  weeks,  they  found  they  had  not  sufficient  food  to 
carry  them  through  the  winter,  and  they  returned  to  England. 

All  these  unsuccessful  efforts,  however,  led  up,  even  by  their 
failure,  to  the  successful  enterprise  of  1607,  which  resulted  in 
the  planting  of  the  present  State  of  Virginia. 


DISCOVERIES     RaJ 


30  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER   II. 

Virginia. 

Permanent  Settlement  of  Virginia — John  Smith — Trouble  in  the  Colony — 
Smith  Taken  Prisoner — Pocahontas — New  Charter — Decision  to  Aban- 
don Jamestown — Tobacco — First  Cargo  of  Negroes — Right  of  Self- 
government — Indian  Attack — Arrival  of  Lord  Baltimore — Settlement 
of  Maryland — Proprietary  Charter — Island  of  Kent — Loss  of  Charter 
by  Virginia — Change  from  King  to  Commonwealth. 

THE  first  permanent  settlement  in  Virginia  was  made  by 
the  London  Company  in  the  summer  of  1607.  Three 
vessels  sailed  from  England  on  the  19th  of  December,  1606, 
the  largest  of  but  one  hundred  tons  burden,  and  the  others 
much  smaller.  The  colony  numbered  one  hundred  and  five 
men,  and  there  were  no  women.  Most  of  the  men  were  so- 
called  "  gentlemen  "  with  no  knowledge  of  hard  work  and  little 
inclination  for  it ;  there  were,  however,  in  the  number  several 
brave  and  noble  men  with  spirit  to  carry  through  a  great  en- 
terprise. 

Among  them  was  John  Smith,  who,  then  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight,  had  already  behind  him  a  career  of  adventure. 
He  was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  in  1579.  From  his 
childhood  a  roving  disposition  showed  itself  in  him.  At 
thirteen  he  planned  running  away  to  sea.  At  fifteen  he  was 
far  from  home,  fighting  in  the  Low  Countries.  When  he  came 
back  he  built  himself  a  hut  in  the  forest.  Soon  he  returned 
to  his  wanderings  on  the  Continent.  He  was  robbed,  nearly 
starved,  thrown  into  the  sea  from  a  ship  in  which  he  had 
embarked  on  the  Mediterranean,  and  only  saved  by 
his  own  exertions  in  swimming.  He  fought  the  Turks  in 
Transylvania,  was  taken  prisoner  and  sent  as  a  slave  to  Con- 
stantinople.    His  mistress,  a  Turkish   princess,   fell   in  love 


JAMESTOWN.  31 

with  him,  but  her  brother,  in  whose  charge  she  placed  him, 
employed  the  Christian  favorite  to  thresh  corn  for  him. 
Smith  beat  out  the  master's  brains  with  the  flail  given  him 
for  another  purpose,  put  on  the  clothes  of  the  dead  man  and 
escaped  from  the  place  on  his  horse,  returning  to  England 
through  Europe  with  new  adventures  at  every  turn. 

The  rumors  about  the  New  World  which  filled  the  air  and 
occupied  every  mind  at  that  time  were  sure  to  excite  the 
ardor  of  such  a  man  as  John  Smith.  His  energy  and  good 
spirits  made  him  a  good  leader,  but  he  was  impatient  of  con- 
trol and  turbulent.  Before  the  end  of  the  long  voyage  of 
four  months  there  were  discontent  and  insubordination  in  the 
little  band,  to  which  Smith  added  no  small  share. 

The  London  council,  which  sent  out  the  colonists,  gave 
them  their  instructions  in  a  sealed  box,  containing  also  the 
names  of  their  number  who  were  to  be  their  leaders.  This 
led,  naturally,  to  difficulty  on  the  voyage,  as  they  did  not 
know  whom  to  obey.  All  dissensions,  all  griefs,  however, 
were  dissipated  by  the  joyful  sight  of  land,  and  in  the  best  of 
spirits  they  sailed  into  Chesapeake  Bay  on  the  26th  of  April, 
1607,  and  after  seventeen  days  spent  in  looking  for  a  suitable 
place  to  plant  the  colony,  they  fixed  on  the  site  still  known 
as  Jamestown,  which  they  so  named  in  honor  of  their  king, 
as  they  had  given  the  names  of  his  sons  Henry  and  Charles 
to  the  capes  they  first  saw  and  sailed  between. 

It  was  May,  and  lovely  weather  in  a  lovely  climate.  For  a 
time  all  went  well.  The  Indians  were  at  first  friendly  to 
them  and  brought  them  food  of  all  kinds — very  grateful  to 
them  after  the  short  rations  compelled  by  their  protracted 
voyage.  They  received  venison,  turkeys,  Indian  corn,  and  all 
the  early  berries  soon  came  in  perfection.  Every  body  set 
cheerfully  to  work  cutting  down  trees,  making  gardens,  be- 
ginning the  new  life  with  hearty  good-will.  Among  the 
directions  they  found  in  the  box  was  the  order  to  seek  at  once 
that  entrance  to  the  "South  Sea  "  which  all  men  in  those  days 
believed  to  be  near  the  Atlantic  shore.  An  expedition  was 
fitted  out  for  this  purpose,  and  pushed  as  far  as  the  falls  on 


32  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

the  James  River,  where  Richmond  now  is.  But  here  the  ex- 
plorers turned  back.  Captain  Christopher  Newport,  who 
commanded  the  little  fleet,  had  now  to  return  with  it  to  En- 
gland. He  sailed  on  the  21st  of  June,  and  left  the  colony 
with  no  resources  outside  their  own.  Their  ships  were  gone 
and  they  had  no  chance  to  withdraw  from  their  situation. 

It  was  a  summer  of  great  hardship.  Want  of  food  and 
proper  shelter  caused  illness,  increased  by  the  effect  of  a 
climate  different  from  that  at  home.  There  was  much  dis- 
sension among  the  leaders  and  those  they  led.  Edward 
Wingfield  had  been  chosen  president  from  the  number  ap- 
pointed to  be  the  council.  He  was  now  accused  of  keeping 
for  his  own  use  the  best  of  the  food,  although  he  says  in  his 
defense  that  he  "never  had  but  one  squirrel  roasted,  yet  was 
that  squirrel  given  "  to  him.  He  was  deposed,  but  his  suc- 
cessors found  it  no  easier  to  administer  affairs  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  colony.  John  Smith  was  foremost  among  the 
discontented,  but  his  energy  was  of  the  greatest  service.  He 
gathered  supplies  from  the  Indians,  who  were  no  longer  so 
friendly  as  at  first,  and  when  they  refused  to  trade  he  compelled 
them  to  do  so  by  force  of  arms.  The  authority  long  accepted 
for  Smith's  adventures  with  the  Indians  is  his  own  General 
History,  in  which  he  describes  them  in  detail.  Other  writers 
of  the  time  omit  some  of  the  features  of  the  story  which  give 
it  the  color  of  romance,  and  for  this  reason  they  are  some- 
what discredited. 

Smith  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians.  The  story  is 
that  he  filled  them  with  amazement  by  the  wonderful  things 
he  told  them  about  the  compass,  and  by  a  written  letter  which 
he  sent  to  the  fort.  When  the  answer  came  back  the  savages 
looked  with  wonder  upon  paper  which  could  speak  of  itself, 
and  began  to  regard  him  as  a  superior  being.  They  dressed 
themselves  in  their  best  war-paint  and  danced  before  him, 
and  men,  women  and  children  crowded  to  see  the  white  man 
with  a  beard  and  with  clothes  on.  However,  when  he  was 
brought  before  the  king,  Powhatan,  it  was  decided  that  he 
must  be  slain.     His  head  was  laid  upon  two  great  stones,  and 


POCAHONTAS.  33 

men  stood  ready  to  beat  his  brains  out,  when  the  king's  little 
daughter  got  her  arms  about  his  head,  "  and  laid  her  own  upon 
his  to  save  him  from  death,  whereat  the  king  was  contented  he 
should  live  to  make  him  hatchets  and  her  bells  and  beads." 
This  was  Pocahontas,  who  could  have  been  but  eight  or  nine 
years  old  at  this  time.  She  was  afterward  married  to  an 
Englishman  ;  not  to  John  Smith,  as  a  fairy  tale  would  have 
had  it,  but  to  Mr.  John  Rolfe.  Her  name  was  changed  to 
Rebecca,  and  she  went  to  England,  where  she  was  presented 
at  court  and  received  much  attention  as  a  heroine  and  an  In- 
dian princess.  It  is  said  she  had  been  told  that  John  Smith 
was  dead.  When  he  was  brought  to  her  in  London,  she  cov- 
ered her  face  with  her  hands  and  remained  silent  for  a  long 
time. 

Pocahontas,  the  Lady  Rebecca,  was  baptized  into  the 
Christian  church.  She  died  just  as  she  was  about  to  return 
to  her  native  country,  at  about  twenty-three  years  of  age. 
She  left  one  son,  and  the  Rolfes  of  Virginia  are  proud  to 
claim  her  as  their  ancestress. 

In  the  autumn  of  1608  Smith  was  made  president  of  the 
colony.  He  kept  it  at  least  from  starvation  but  could  pre- 
serve but  a  feeble  life  in  it.  Captain  Newport  came  and 
went,  bringing  provisions  and  new  colonists  ;  but  these  were 
often  men  of  little  service  in  the  way  of  work.  The  next 
year  Smith  met  with  an  accident  which  put  an  end  to  his 
career  in  Virginia.  By  an  explosion  of  gunpowder  he  was  so 
burned  and  injured  that  he  had  to  go  to  England  for  surgical 
aid. 

After  this  he  made  two  voyages  to  America,  but  never 
again  returned  to  Virginia.  He  passed  the  rest  of  his  life  in 
England,  and  published  several  books,  of  which  the  General 
History  of  Virginia  is  one. 

Meantime  a  new  charter  was  asked  and  granted  for  the 
colony,  with  larger  powers  and  privileges  than  the  first  had 
allowed.  A  fleet  of  nine  ships,  carrying  five  hundred  people, 
was  dispatched  in  May,  1609,  with  Sir  Thomas  Gates  as  ad- 
miral, who  was  to  assume  supreme  command  on  arrival  and 
2* 


34  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

thus  supersede  Smith.  The  fleet  was  dispersed  by  a  storm, 
and  the  admiral's  ship  was  supposed  to  be  lost,  for  nothing 
was  heard  of  her  till  the  next  spring.  In  May  Gates  reached 
Jamestown,  having  spent  the  winter  comfortably  at  Bermuda, 
where  he  was  cast  ashore  with  his  one  hundred  and  fifty  com- 
panions. When  he  arrived  in  Virginia,  of  the  five  hundred 
whom  Smith  had  left  at  Jamestown  six  months  before  only 
sixty  were  alive.  He  landed  and  ordered  the  bell  to  be  rung  as 
a  summons  to  church  for  all  the  people  who  could  crawl  out 
to  welcome  him.  Service  was  held  in  "  zealous  and  sorrowful 
prayer."  The  whole  place  was  a  scene  of  desolation  ;  pali- 
sades were  torn  down,  gates  were  broken  off  their  hinges, 
houses  pulled  to  pieces  for  fire-wood,  because  the  people  were 
afraid  to  go  into  the  forest  for  fuel. 

Gates  decided  that  the  only  tiling  to  do  was  to  abandon 
Jamestown  and  go  to  some  place  out  of  the  way  of  the 
Indians  and  within  reach  of  succor  from  England.  The  whole 
colony  were  actually  embarked  on  their  vessels,  and  were  wait- 
ing for  the  ebb-tide,  when  they  were  intercepted  by  tidings  of 
the  arrival  of  Lord  de  la  Warre,  with  three  ships  and  plentiful 
supplies.  The  colonists  turned  back,  and  at  night  were  in 
their  old  quarters,  faint  at  heart,  and  with  much  doubt  what 
was  to  follow.  This  was  the  very  lowest  ebb  in  the  fortunes 
of  the  little  colony  on  the  shore  of  Virginia. 

The  true  value  of  Virginia  was  now  becoming  better  known 
in  England  ;  the  mildness  of  its  climate,  the  fertility  of  its  soil, 
the  value  of  its  products.  The  colony  began  at  last  to  achieve 
some  degree  of  prosperity  under  the  judicious  management 
of  successive  rulers.  Tobacco  began  to  yield  a  profitable 
harvest,  for  the  use  of  it,  introduced  by  Raleigh  as  a  fashion 
at  court,  had  become  common  throughout  England. 

This  crop  was  a  source  of  wealth,  and  land  for  it  was  plen- 
tiful, but  the  land  was  useless  without  laborers.  In  1619 
a  Dutch  ship  arrived  at  Jamestown  with  a  cargo  of  negroes 
from  the  coast  of  Guinea,  and  they  were  eagerly  welcomed 
at  good  prices  by  the  planter. 

In  the  same  year,  for  the  first  time,  the  right  of  self-govern- 


LORD   BALTIMORE.  35 

ment  was  given  to  the  colonists.  They  were  called  upon  to 
send  representatives  from  each  of  the  towns,  hundreds  or 
plantations,  to  meet  with  governor  and  council  and  decide 
upon  all  matters  relating  to  the  colony.  The  first  legislative 
assembly  met  in  the  church  at  Jamestown,  on  the  3d  of 
July,  1 61 9.  It  consisted  of  twenty-two  representatives,  be- 
sides the  governor  and  his  council. 

In  the  spring  of  1622  a  sudden  calamity  threatened  the 
prosperity  of  the  colony.  For  years  there  had  been  unbroken 
peace  with  the  Indians,  and  the  English  had  scattered  them- 
selves without  fear  over  the  country,  in  free  intercourse  with 
the  natives.  Powhatan,  the  friendly  king,  was  dead,  and  his 
brother,  now  the  most  powerful  chief  in  Virginia,  hated  the 
English  and  grudged  their  existence  in  the  land  to  which  his 
race  had  an  exclusive  right.  On  the  morning  of  the  22d  of 
March,  with  no  warning  whatever,  the  savages,  instigated  by 
the  chief,  fell  upon  the  whites  wherever  they  found  them, 
sparing  neither  age  nor  sex,  with  a  horrid  joy.  The  attack 
was  chiefly  outside  of  Jamestown,  for  there  the  people  were 
put  upon  their  guard  by  a  converted  Indian,  who  had  been 
urged  by  his  brother  to  do  his  part  in  the  massacre.  Instead 
of  this  the  Indian  told  the  plot  to  his  master,  who  hurried 
across  the  river  from  his  plantation  to  the  town  and  warned 
the  authorities  in  time  for  them  to  arm  the  place.  This  saved 
the  larger  part  of  the  colonists,  but  within  an  hour's  time 
about  three  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  were  killed. 

Probably  in  the  spring  of  1629,  George  Calvert,  Lord  Bal- 
timore, arrived  at  Jamestown  from  Newfoundland,  where  he 
had  a  colony  called  Avalon.  Discouraged  there  by  the 
hard  climate  and  barren  soil,  he  had  come  to  look  for  a 
pleasanter  spot  for  his  purpose,  and  he  found  it  on  the  shores 
of  Chesapeake  Bay.  But  the  government  in  Virginia  regarded 
him  and  his  project  with  little  favor.  Lord  Baltimore  was  a 
Catholic,  and  his  plan  was  likely  to  interfere  with  the  freedom 
of  religion  which  the  Jamestown  colony  had  hitherto  enjoyed. 
The  usual  oath  of  supremacy  and  allegiance  was  tendered  to 
him  by  them.     But  they  were  not  sorry  when  he  declined  to 


36  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

take  it,  and  they  then  asked  him  to  take  shipping  to  New 
England  by  the  earliest  opportunity.  He  left  their  colony, 
but  afterward  obtained  a  charter  with  grant  of  land  around 
the  head  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  on  which  (he  himself  dying  in- 
opportunely) his  son,  Cecil  Calvert,  Lord  Baltimore,  planted 
a  colony  in  the  year  1634,  under  the  leadership  of  his  brother 
Leonard.  The  name  Terra  Marice — Maryland,  was  given  the 
colony  in  honor  of  the  queen. 

It  was  a  Roman  Catholic  colony,  an  asylum  for  persecuted 
Romanists.  Under  the  charge  of  Father  White  and  his  fellow 
priests  it  took  firm  root  and  flourished.  The  Virginians  heard 
of  the  new  settlement  with  natural  indignation,  and  their  op- 
position grew  to  open  conflict.  But  the  new  colony  was  by 
no  means  wholly  Catholic.  Lord  Baltimore,  to  whom  the 
powers  of  the  sovereign  had  been  delegated,  had  apparently 
no  idea  of  restricting  the  emigration,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact 
a  strong  Puritan  party  grew  up  in  the  new  settlement.  This 
induced  disturbances,  of  which  there  were  not  a  few. 

The  charter  under  which  Maryland  was  settled  was  of  the 
kind  known  as  "  proprietary  " — that  is,  the  king  made  over 
his  rights  to  a  proprietor  in  whom  was  vested  power  almost 
regal.  He  was  not  absolutely  to  reign  over  the  colonists,  but 
to  settle  with  them  what  sort  of  government  should  be  estab- 
lished in  the  same  manner  that  the  king  would  otherwise  have 
done.  Baltimore  does  not  seem  to  have  done  much  in  this 
respect,  but  the  commission  as  governor  granted  to  Leonard 
Calvert  gave  him  power  to  call  assemblies,  to  veto  or  approve 
laws  made  by  them,  and  to  act  as  judge.  The  people,  as  had 
been  the  custom  in  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  at  first  all 
attended  the  assemblies,  but  subsequently  delegated  their 
power  to  deputies.  The  customs  in  this  matter  were  some- 
what curious;  we  find  that  any  one  dissatisfied  with  the  elec- 
tion of  deputy  from  his  county  was  allowed  to  go  and  sit 
in  the  assembly  himself,  if  he  so  desired,  and  the  proprietor 
had  the  right  to  name  as  many  deputies  as  he  chose.  Hence 
quarrels  arose.  More  would  have  arisen  had  Baltimore  been 
more  inclined  than  he  was  to  press  Romanism  on  his  colonists. 


MARYLAND.  37 

The  Marylanders  quarreled  with  Virginia  over  the  Island 
of  Kent,  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  one  Clayborne  had  settled 
himself,  to  assert  the  claim  of  Virginia  to  the  island  as  well 
as  for  trade  with  the  Indians.  The  island  was  within  the 
boundaries  of  Calvert's  patent.  A  slight  skirmish  took  place 
and  the  matter  was  referred  to  England.  Later  on,  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  civil  war  at  home,  disputes  arose  in  Maryland. 
Clayborne  seems  to  have  thought  that  he  could  gain  redress 
from  the  Parliament  which  the  king  had  not  granted  him  for 
the  Puritans  in  Maryland,  who  were  opposed  to  Baltimore  on 
principle.  Many  disturbances  took  place  during  the  time  of 
the  Commonwealth,  but  Baltimore,  although  a  Catholic,  was 
able  to  keep  his  patent,  though  with  various  vicissitudes. 
The  Puritans  in  the  colony  became  very  strong,  being 
strengthened  by  accessions  from  Virginia.  On  the  occasion 
when  Stone,  the  proprietary  governor,  differed  with  the  Par- 
liamentary Commissioners  who  had  been  sent  out  to  subdue 
all  the  Colonies,  they  sided  with  the  commissioners  and 
drove  the  governor  out  of  the  colony.  But  the  home  gov- 
ernment upheld  Baltimore  in  his  rights,  which  seem  to  have 
been  all  that  that  tolerant  nobleman  desired,  and  his  brother, 
Phillip  Calvert,  was  made  governor  and  succeeded  in  obtain- 
ing the  upper  hand  in  affairs. 

There  is  not  much  else  of  importance  in  this  century  to 
chronicle  in  regard  to  Maryland.  The  inhabitants  pursued 
their  own  business,  and,  to  their  great  happiness,  did  not  be- 
come involved  in  any  Indian  wars.  Curiously  enough,  though 
the  colony  was  founded  by  a  Roman  Catholic,  there  were, 
toward  the  end  of  the  century  many  severe  laws  against 
papists.  Baltimore  himself  lost  all  civil  rights  in  his  own 
colony.  In  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however, 
his  successor  became  Protestant,  and  obtained  his  full  rights 
again. 

To  resume  our  sketch  of  Virginia:  Shortly  after  the  great 
massacre  came  another  misfortune  upon  the  colony.  Their 
charter  was  taken  from  them,  and  they  were  reduced  to  un- 
conditional dependence  on   the  king's   will.     The  Virginians 


38  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

had  been  by  no  means  backward  in  resisting  sundry  oppres- 
sive proceedings  of  James  I.,  and  in  revenge  for  this,  or  rather 
to  take  away  the  possibility  of  such  proceedings  in  fu- 
ture, a  writ  of  quo  warranto  was  entered  against  the  charter, 
which  was  declared  forfeited.  The  change  was,  however, 
more  in  form  than  in  fact.  The  royal  governor,  Sir  Francis 
Watt,  was  retained,  and  the  right  of  the  assembly  to  meet 
and  legislate  was  not  questioned.  The  Virginia  Company 
thus  being  dissolved,  the  people  asked  for  a  new  patent  stat- 
ing the  form  of  government.  Although  no  such  protection 
was  granted,  no  attempt  was  made  by  Charles  I.,  who  came 
to  the  throne  at  about  this  time,  to  deprive  Virginia  of  any  of 
her  liberties,  and  in  his  reign  the  country  flourished  and  pros- 
pered with  little  occurring  for  chronicling.  After  the  great 
massacre  no  Indian  disturbances  occurred  for  twenty  years. 
In  1644  another  Indian  war  of  small  importance  broke  out, 
but  was  easily  put  an  end  to.  The  Virginians  treated  the  In- 
dians with  very  great  justice  and  wisdom,  and  reaped  the 
benefit  thereof. 

We  may  here  with  advantage  take  a  view  of  the  colony 
now  established  forty  years.  Its  character  was  peculiar.  Vir- 
ginia is  a  country  of  rivers.  Innumerable  rivers  and  creeks 
flow  into  the  numerous  bays  and  indentations  of  the  coast 
line.  The  result  of  this  was  that  the  planters  naturally  kept 
to  the  river  banks.  They  scattered  all  over  the  country,  for 
every-where  was  there  easy  access  to  the  sea,  so  that  every- 
where was  it  easy  to  dispose  of  the  crops.  Thus  there  was 
not  in  Virginia  that  consolidation  to  be  noticed  in  the  north- 
ern colonies  ;  the  state  of  the  country  was  exactly  the  reverse. 
The  country  was  filled  with  very  small  settlements  at  some 
little  distance  from  each  other,  lying  at  that  time  almost  en- 
tirely between  the  James  and  the  York  rivers.  The  num- 
ber of  inhabitants  had  at  last  considerably  increased, 
although  at  first  curtailed  by  the  massacres  and  starvations  of 
the  earlier  years.  By  the  year  1650  there  were  perhaps 
15,000  people,  whites  and  blacks.  This  population  was 
made  up  in  general  of  two  classes  :   the  rich,  well-to-do  plant- 


VIRGINIA   PROSPEROUS.  39 

ers,  and  the  poorer  class  of  English,  often  transported  for 
crime  or  sold  into  the  colony  as  slaves  for  a  term  of  years. 
There  seems  to  have  been  no  middle  class.  The  colony  was 
prosperous  and  contented  as  far  as  its  worldly  affairs  were 
concerned.  The  houses  were  not  seldom  substantial  build- 
ings of  brick  or  stone.  The  soil  brought  forth  abundantly 
not  only  tobacco,  but  almost  every  necessity  of  life.  In 
fact,  so  much  corn  wras  produced  that  much  was  exported  to 
New  England.  There  was  abundance  of  game  in  the  woods, 
so  that  no  one  need  fear  want.  On  the  whole  there  was  no 
small  reason  for  the  general  affection  felt  by  the  Virginians 
for  their  country. 

The  change  from  king  to  commonwealth  was  effected  with- 
out serious  results  as  far  as  Virginia  was  concerned.  Not 
that  the  Virginians  were  totally  indifferent  to  the  change, 
caring  little  who  were  their  rulers,  so  they  were  allowed  to 
cultivate  their  corn  and  tobacco.  Far  from  it.  There  was 
in  Virginia  a  very  strong  Royalist  element;  so  strong  that  it 
is  not  infrequently  taken  as  representing  the  colony.  Berkeley, 
the  governor,  was  a  stanch  old  Royalist  to  the  last;  but  there 
were  also  many  to  whom  the  Puritan  ideas  in  religion  were 
not  disagreeable,  and  there  were  more  in  whom  the  spirit  of 
independence  and  freedom  had  grown  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  welcomed  with  pleasure  the  deposition  of  the  Stuarts. 
The  first  proceedings  of  Virginia  on  the  execution  of  Charles 
I.  were  of  a  Royalist  character,  and  it  seems  to  have  been 
generally  thought  in  England  that  the  colony  would  serve  as 
a  Royalist  refuge.  But  upon  the  arrival  of  a  Parliamentary 
fleet  under  Dennis  the  other  element  was  put  in  power,  and 
with  the  aid  of  such  as  were  indifferent  to  either  party  the 
change  was  made  with  no  trouble,  and  the  colony  was  surren- 
dered to  the  commissioners  sent  out  for  that  purpose.  The 
assembly  continued  in  existence  and  power,  but  the  old  gov- 
ernor was  displaced  and  the  commissioners  chose  a  new  one. 
Under  the  new  system  affairs  were  carried  on  with  the  same 
tranquillity  which  had  marked  the  previous  ten  years.  The 
principal  thing  of  importance  to  note  at  this   time  was  the 


40  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

passing  by  Parliament  of  the  Navigation  Act,  which  gave 
form  to  a  colonial  policy  to  which  great  Britain  held  until 
the  Revolution.  The  purpose  of  the  original  act  was  to  keep 
the  colonial  trade  to  England,  that  all  the  advantages  there- 
from might  accrue  to  the  mother  country.  Although  the 
navigation  acts  of  later  times  often  aroused  much  resistance, 
it  does  not  appear  that  the  Virginians  offered  any  objec- 
tions to  the  operations  of  this  first  one,  except  as  far  as  eva- 
sion may  be  held  to  be  objection. 


SETTLEMENT  OF    NEW   ENGLAND.  41 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Settlement  of  New  England— Plymouth. 

English  Reformation — The  Name  Puritan — The  Beginning  of  the  Puritans 
— Later  History  of  the  Puritans — Presbyterian  Puritans — Brown  and 
the  Independents — The  Puritans  go  to  Holland — Thoughts  of  Going 
to  America — They  Set  Out — They  Anchor  at  Provincetown — A  New 
Government — They  Land  at  Plymouth — A  Hard  Winter — The  Indians 
— Different  Settlements — Growth  of  the  Plymouth  Colony — Their 
Form  of  Government. 

TO  understand  the  settlement  of  New  England  we  must 
have  some  knowledge  of  the  course  of  the  Reformation 
in  England.  In  that  country  the  reformatory  tendencies 
were  twofold.  In  the  first  place,  there  were  those  who  desired 
for  political  reasons,  more  than  religious,  to  throw  off  the 
supremacy  of  the  Papal  see,  and  with  it  various  abuses  which 
had  crept  into  the  Roman  Church.  In  the  second,  there 
were  those  who,  for  purely  religious  reasons  of  conscience, 
wished  to  reform  the  Church  of  Fmgland  into  what  they 
deemed,  from  a  purely  theological  stand-point,  a  purer  and 
better  Church.  To  this  latter  class  belonged  the  Puritans. 
There  were  many  of  that  stamp  who  could  not  be  called  by 
that  name,  but  the  whole  of  the  Puritan  body  would  come 
fairly  under  our  last  head. 

The  word  Puritan  is  used  as  the  general  name  for  that 
large  body  of  men  of  very  diverse  views  and  opinions,  at  dif- 
ferent times  as  well  as  at  the  same  time,  who  found  it  impos- 
sible for  them  to  conform  conscientiously  to  all  the  usages  of 
the  Church  of  England  in  the  period  of  the  Reformation  of 
that  Church  from  Romanism  to  Anglo-Catholicism.  The 
name  is  none  of  the  best,  but  time  and  association  have  given 
it  a  place  in  the  minds,  not  to  say  the  affections,  of  English- 
speaking  people  that  will  not  easily  be  filled  by  any  substitute. 


42  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  term  did  not  come  into  general  use  until  1566,  or  there- 
abouts, but  by  historians  it  is  generally  referred  back  to  the 
year  1550. 

Not  that  the  Puritan  spirit  was  not  earlier  manifested  in 
English  history.  We  see  elements  of  the  Puritan  idea  in 
Anglo-Saxon  writing,  in  the  writings  of  Wicklif,  and  in  his 
followers,  the  Lollards.  But  the  date  1550  is  generally  taken 
as  that  of  the  first  "  public  manifestation  of  Puritanism  as  an 
element  in  church  politics."  It  was  in  this  year  that  Dr. 
Hooper,  on  being  named  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  refused  to 
wear  the  garments  prescribed  for  his  consecration  by  the  reg- 
ulations of  the  Church  of  England,  then  being  reformed  with 
cautious  sagacity  by  Edward,  under  the  advice  of  Archbishop 
Cranmer.  Hooper  at  first  desired  to  be  allowed  consecration 
without  the  garments,  relics  of  popery,  as  he  considered  them, 
and,  failing  this,  he  wished  to  be  allowed  to  refuse  the  bish- 
opric. Neither  of  these  alternatives  was  allowed.  Hooper, 
after  argument,  persuasion  and  imprisonment,  consented  to 
wear  the  habits  at  his  consecration,  and  again  when  he 
preached  at  court  shortly  afterward.  But  except  for  those 
two  times  he  was  allowed  to  discard  them.  We  may  call  him 
a  Puritan,  yet  he  was  a  bishop  in  the  Church  of  England. 
Such  a  position  would  have  been  a  strange  anomaly  ninety 
years  afterward,  when  the  Puritans,  as  a  party,  were  clamoring 
for  the  abolishment  of  the  episcopal  office  in  the  Church. 
Other  of  Edward's  bishops  and  many  of  Elizabeth's  were 
Puritans  of  Hooper's  type. 

Puritanism  afterward  appeared  in  different  forms.  In  1554 
many  English  Protestants  had  fled  from  their  country  under 
the  Marian  persecution  and  had  taken  refuge  with  the  Cal- 
vinist  churches  of  the  continent.  At  this  time  John  Knox 
and  William  Whittingham,  under  the  severe  views  of  the 
Church  at  Geneva,  led  some  of  the  more  advanced  of  the 
Puritans  in  a  fierce  attack  upon  the  prayer-book  used  by  the 
Church,  known  as  King  Edward's  prayer-book.  Many  whom 
we  should  call  Puritans  were  not  in  sympathy  with  this  move- 
ment ;  for,   although   they   held   the   same   principles  as  the 


\jup.  ^/muU 


BROWNISTS.  43 

reformers,  they  were  ruled  by  the  stronger  desire  to  see  the 
Church  of  England  triumph  in  its  reformation,  and  were, 
therefore,  led  to  accept  what  they  could  not  approve.  But 
at  this  time  all  the  Puritans  were  unwilling  to  separate  from  a 
"  church  where  the  Word  and  sacraments  were  truly  preached." 

Later  still,  when  Elizabeth,  having  been  several  years  upon 
the  throne,  was  seeking  to  enforce  conformity  to  the  church 
of  which  she  was  the  supreme  governor  under  Christ,  a  num- 
ber of  Puritans  felt  called  upon  to  separate  themselves  from 
a  church  which  imposed  on  them  practices  which  they  held 
to  be  not  deducible  from  Scripture,  and,  therefore,  not  to  be 
endured,  and  to  form  a  church  independent  of  it.  They 
were  known  as  "Separatists."     This  was  in  1566. 

In  1572  a  new  element  in  English  Puritanism  took  a  definite 
shape,  the  desire  to  convert  the  Church  of  England  into  a 
Presbyterian  establishment.  Of  this  movement  Cartwright 
is  the  historical  landmark.  Presbyterianism  became  at  once 
a  vigorous  branch  of  Puritanism,  though  it  by  no  means  ab- 
sorbed all  its  strength.  Many  Puritans  were  Presbyterians ; 
all  Presbyterians  were  Puritans.  But  at  this  time  it  was  a 
minority  of  the  Puritan  body  which  desired  a  Presbytery. 
Later,  in  1642,  the  Presbyterians  made  up  the  greater  part  of 
the  Puritans. 

About  the  year  1582  Robert  Brown  set  a  going  a  movement 
from  which  he  himself  retired,  leaving  with  it  as  a  precious 
legacy  a  nickname  which  clung  with  a  stigmatizing  hold  for 
more  than  a  generation.  Brown  was  an  "  Independent." 
This  word,  and  the  words  independence  and  independency,  Li 
came  into  our  language  with  him.  He  separated  himself  from 
the  Establishment,  holding  (if  we  can  tell  exactly  what  he 
held)  that  each  congregation  of  the  faithful  gathered  together 
for  the  worship  of  God  constituted  a  Church.  We  must  still 
call  the  Brownists,  or  Separatists,  or  Independents,  Puritans, 
though  in  their  earlier  days  they  were  "a  sect  of  outlaws  be- 
yond the  pale  of  ordinary  Puritanism."  In  line  after  Brown, 
though  not  allowing  themselves  to  be  his  followers,  came  the 
Amsterdam  Separatists,  from  1603  onward  ;  the  congregation 


44  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

that  migrated  from  Scrooby  to  Leyden,  and  from  Leyden 
sailed  in  the  Mayflower;  eventually  the  Puritans  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay  Company  and  the  new  model  army  of  Oliver 
Cromwell. 

But  Presbyterians  and  Independents  by  no  means  made  up 
all  the  Puritans  from  1572  to  1642.  The  main  body  were 
anti-prelatists  merely,  opposed  to  many  of  the  usages  of  the 
Church  of  England,  yet  remaining  members  of  that  Church, 
bearing  the  strongest  affection  for  it  mingled  with  a  desire  for  its 
reform  in  some  matters.  They  desired  simply  reform  in  the 
Church,  and  no  such  sweeping  reform  of  the  Church  as  was 
urged  by  Cartwright  and  Brown.  Even  of  the  settlers  of 
Boston  and  Salem  many  professed  their  fondest  affection  for 
the  Church  of  England,  and  became  Independent  merely 
because  three  thousand  miles  of  ocean  rolled  between  them 
and  that  Church. 

Such  were  the  different  stages  in  the  development  of  En- 
glish Puritanism.  It  had  always  for  its  object  one  thing:  the 
true  perception  of  religious  truth  without  regard  to  conse- 
quences. Those  who  could  not  find  it  within  the  Church  of 
England  were  earnest  enough  to  separate  themselves  from 
that  Church,  that  they  might  worship  God  in  a  manner  not 
displeasing  to  him.  Of  these  Separatist  congregations  there 
were  several  toward  the  end  of  Elizabeth's  reign  and  the 
beginning  of  that  of  James  I.  One  of  them  was  gathered 
at  Scrooby,  in  the  north  of  England,  on  the  borders  of  three 
counties,  York,  Lincoln  and  Nottingham.  This  Church,  gath- 
ered together  under  the  care  of  John  Robinson  and  Richard 
Clifton,  desired  nothing  save  freedom  to  worship  in  their  own 
way.  This  was  not  to  be  found  in  England.  James  I.  was 
showing  himself  by  no  means  lenient  with  those  who  could 
not  agree  with  the  Establishment.  The  Scrooby  congrega- 
tion came  to  the  idea  that  they  would  give  up  home,  coun- 
try and  every  thing,  for  their  religion's  sake,  and  emigrate  to 
Holland,  where,  already,  some  two  or  three  churches  had 
sought  shelter  from  English  persecution.  But  even  this  was 
hardly  allowed    them.     Attempting   to   escape   by  night,  as 


EMIGRATION  TO    NEW   ENGLAND.  45 

though  criminals,  they  were  discovered  and  prevented.  A 
second  attempt  was  more  successful,  and  in  1608  the  little 
Church  found  itself  in  Amsterdam,  whence  they  shortly  moved 
to  Leyden,  the  university  city  of  Holland. 

In  Leyden  they  remained  twelve  years.  They  lived  quietly 
and  obscurely,  tolerated,  and  perhaps  encouraged,  by  the 
inhabitants.  Each  man  found  some  occupation  to  which  he 
might  turn  his  hand  to  gain  a  livelihood.  But  as  they  saw 
their  children  growing  up  to  manhood  and  womanhood  in  a 
strange  country,  speaking  a  strange  language,  and  having  but 
little  familiarity  with  that  country  which  they  still  held  dea-r, 
though  self-exiled  from  it — as  time  went  on  in  this  manner,  it 
was  more  and  more  borne  in  upon  them  that  it  was  not  the 
will  of  God  that  they  should  gradually  subside  and  become 
amalgamated  with  the  Dutch  people  around  them,  but  that 
they  ought  to  take  some  steps  whereby  they  might  enjoy  the 
freedom  of  the  Gospel  and  at  the  same  time  forward  the 
honor  and  prosperity  of  their  own  dear  native  country,  and, 
perchance,  be  the  means  of  conveying  Christianity  to  the 
heathen  of  America.  They  thought  of  emigrating  in  a  body 
to  some  part  of  the  New  World,  where  they  might  be  at  lib- 
erty to  keep  pure  their  primitive  form  of  worship  and  yet,  at 
the  same  time,  live  under  the  shelter  and  protection  of  the 
English  flag,  and  contribute  by  their  lives  to  the  glory  and  well- 
being  of  their  stepmother  country.  After  some  discussion 
of  the  advantages  of  the  valley  of  the  Oronoco,  to  which 
Raleigh's  adventures  had  called  attention,  it  was  hoped  that 
they  might  be  able  to  settle  as  a  separate  community  on  the 
territory  of  the  Virginia  Company. 

Negotiations  were  at  once  set  on  foot,  and,  not  to  be  tedious 
in  narrating  details,  after  some  hard  bargaining  with  such 
adventurers  as  were  willing  to  provide  funds  for  the  journey, 
and  after  vain  endeavors  to  obtain  a  royal  charter  under  which 
they  might  live  and  erect  some  form  of  government,  they  at 
last  reached  the  time  of  departure.  All  of  the  Leyden  con- 
gregation were  not  to  go.  There  were  many  who,  for  various  rea- 
sons, could  not  find  it  in  their  hearts  to  venture  every  thing  in 


46  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

an  untried  experiment  of  settlement  in  a  new  world.  Indeed, 
these  were  the  majority  of  the  congregation,  and,  such  being 
the  case,  the  pastor  of  the  flock,  John  Robinson,  remained 
at  Leyden  with  those  who  were  left  behind,  while  William 
Brewster,  the  elder,  was  to  cross  the  seas  with  the  band  of 
exiles.  With  them  went  also  William  Bradford,  a  man  of 
consideration  among  them,  who  was  afterward  for  many 
years  the  governor  of  their  colony,  and  with  them  also 
went  the  soldier,  Miles  Standish,  destined  to  command  their 
humble  armies  and  to  take  charge  of  such  defensive  warfare 
a?s  might  be  necessary  in  a  wild  and  unknown  country.  So, 
on  August  5,  1620,  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  them,  having 
gathered  at  Southampton,  whither  they  had  crossed  from  Ley- 
den by  way  of  Defthaven,  set  sail  for  America  in  two  vessels, 
the  Mayflower  and  the  Speedwell.  They  had  not,  however, 
proceeded  far  before  the  Speedwell  sprung  a  leak,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  return  for  repairs.  Having  started  once  again, 
it  became  evident  after  some  days  that  the  Speedwell  was 
unfit  for  the  ocean  passage,  and  that  it  would  be  dangerous 
for  her  to  go  on.  The  company  was,  therefore,  divided.  Such 
as  desired  to  go  back  were  put  on  board  the  Speedwell,  which 
returned  to  England.  The  rest,  one  hundred  in  number, 
went  forward  in  the  Mayflower. 

According  to  the  patent  granted  to  them  by  the  Virginia 
Company  it  had  been  the  intention  to  settle  somewhere  to 
the  south  of  Cape  Cod.  But  the  shipmaster,  having  to  wrestle 
with  unmanageable  storms,  could  do  nothing  better  than  to 
land  them  just  inside  that  cape  in  what  is  now  the  harbor 
of  Provincetown.  It  was  thought  at  the  time  that  he  had 
been  hired  by  the  Dutch,  who  were  then  settled  on  the  Hud- 
son River,  to  keep  this  English  settlement  at  some  distance 
from  them,  but  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  this  was  the  case. 

Having  dropped  anchor  inside  Cape  Cod,  before  leaving 
the  ship  they  took  a  most  decisive  step  :  they  created  a  gov- 
ernment for  themselves.  Having  had  no  form  of  government 
prescribed  for  them  by  any  superior  power,  being  in  a  new 
land — as  it  were,  new-born  people  with,  practically,  no  author- 


SETTLEMENT   OF   PLYMOUTH.  47 

ity  over  them  save  that  of  the  God  whom  they  worshiped — 
they  had  strength  enough  to  conceive  of  the  simplest  form  of 
government,  founded  in  truly  American  principles:  the  equal 
rights  of  the  people.  The  document  drawn  up  and  signed 
by  them  on  the  15th  of  November,  1620,  is  in  these  words : 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  We,  whose  names  are  un- 
derwritten, the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereign  Lord, 
King  James,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  &c.  having  under- 
taken, for  the  glory  of  God  and  advancement  of  the  Christian 
faith,  and  honor  of  our  King  and  country,  a  voyage  to  plant 
the  first  colony  in  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia,  do  by  these 
presents,  solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God  and 
one  of  another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a 
civil  body  politic,  for  our  better  ordering  and  preservation, 
and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid  ;  and  by  virtue  hereof 
to  enact,  constitute  and  frame  such  just  and  equal  laws,  ordi- 
nances, acts,  constitutions  and  offices,  from  time  to  time,  as 
shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient  for  the  general 
good  of  the  colony;  unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission 
and  obedience." 

To  this  compact  every  man  in  the  party  put  his  name.  It 
is,  with  reason,  regarded  with  the  greatest  interest,  because  it 
is  a  perfect  illustration  of  a  government  proceeding  from  the 
people  by  their  own  consent,  and  it  is  the  first  instance  in 
history  where  a  government  is  thus  formed,  in  writing,  at  one 
time,  by  the  expressed  consent  of  the  governed. 

Having  thus  formed  themselves  into  a  body  politic  they 
set  about  to  find  a  spot  for  settlement.  After  having  ex- 
plored a  great  part  of  Cape  Cod  they  finally  settled  upon  a 
harbor  on  the  mainland,  to  which  they  gave  the  name 
Plymouth,  the  last  town  they  had  seen  in  the  Old  England 
and  the  first  in  the  New.  Here  they  landed  on  the  nth  of 
December  (the  21st,  according  to  new  style),  and  here  they  at 
once  set  to  work  to  build  them  houses  to  shelter  them  from 
the  winter.  The  Mayflower  was  to  remain  with  them  till 
spring.  That  winter  bore  with  great  severity  upon  the  colony. 
Nearly  one  half  of  them  had  perished  before  the  Mayfloiver 


48  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

set  out  on  her  return  voyage  to  England.  Yet  of  the  few 
who  were  left  not  one  returned  in  the  ship ;  not  one  but  was 
strong  in  the  hope  of  the  new  plantation.  As  summer  came 
on  the  hardships  ceased.  More  settlers  were  brought  over, 
and  in  two  or  three  years  the  colony  was  so  well  established 
that  it  was  no  longer  a  question,  when  winter  came  on,  as  to 
whether  there  would  be  any  left  alive  to  see  the  spring,  but 
a  certain  rude  prosperity  had  begun  to  prevail. 

The  colony  was,  on  the  whole,  fortunate  in  its  connection 
with  the  natives  of  the  country.  It  happened  that  some  few 
years  before  their  settlement  a  great  pestilence  had  passed 
over  the  tribes  of  Eastern  Massachusetts,  thinning  their  num- 
bers terribly.  So  the  English  settlers  had  but  little  to  fear  from 
their  strength.  Such  Indians  as  there  were  seemed  friendly. 
Their  first  meeting  was  of  a  hostile  nature,  but  shortly  after, 
the  Pilgrims  coming  into  relations  with  Massasoit,  a  firm  league 
of  friendship  was  made,  which  was  truly  kept.  Not  that 
there  were  not  occasional  disturbances,  but  the  fault  of  these 
hardly  lay  with  the  Plymouth  settlers ;  for  as  the  years 
passed  other  English  emigrants  settled  in  New  England.  In 
1622  a  settlement  was  begun  by  one  Weston  at  a  place  called 
Wessagusset,  about  thirty  miles  to  the  north  of  Plymouth,  on 
the  sea-coast.  Some  sixty  men  were  landed  and  remained 
there  for  two  winters;  but  they  were  not  men  of  the  same 
stamp  as  the  Plymouth  settlers,  and  the  plan  utterly  failed, 
though  not  before  Weston's  men  had  by  their  unjust  treat- 
ment aroused  the  Indians  to  hostilities  which  were  not 
quelled  until  Standish  had  taken  the  field  against  them.  This 
settlement  failed,  and  so  did  another,  sent  out  by  Captain  Wol- 
laston.  This  latter  was  made  near  Quincy,  and  here  it  was 
that  Morton,  of  Merrymount,  raised  his  May-pole,  and  created 
such  scandal  that  all  the  settlers  on  the  coast  banded  together 
against  him  and  sent  him  back  again  to  England;  for  by 
this  time  (1625)  there  were  many  stray  settlers  along  the  New 
England  shore.  At  Cape  Ann,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  were 
certain  West  of  England  fishermen.  Further  north,  on  the 
Piscataqua,  were  small  settlements  of  a  few  men,  and  in  one 


BUSINESS  ARRANGEMENTS.  49 

or  two  places  were  solitary  men  living  at  some  part  or  other 
of  the  coast,  of  whom  we  know  little  more  than  the  name. 
One  more  scheme  for  colonization  we  ought  to  note.  In 
1623  the  Plymouth  Company,  thinking  that  some  effort  should 
be  made  for  colonization,  fitted  out  a  small  expedition  under 
Robert  Gorges,  the  son  of  Ferdinando  Gorges,  a  man  much 
interested  in  American  settlement  at  that  time.  But  this 
plan,  like  others,  came  to  nothing,  and  the  Pilgrims  at  Plym- 
outh were  practically  the  only  settlers  in  New  England  be- 
fore the  time  of  the  settlement  of  Salem  and  Boston  by  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Company. 

They  grew  and  increased  slowly.  In  the  ten  years  between 
1620  and  1630  their  numbers  had  increased,  from  the  handful 
settled  at  Plymouth,  so  that  two  or  three  new  towns  had  been 
settled,  and  their  prosperity  was,  in  a  simple  way,  secured. 
They  were  busied  chiefly  with  agriculture,  but  carried  on 
certain  trading  operations  with  the  Indians  both  on  the  Ken- 
nebec, in  what  is  now  Maine,  where  they  came  in  contact 
with  the  French,  and  on  the  Connecticut,  where  they  found 
the  Dutch  pioneers.  Their  political  condition  had  by  no 
means  fallen  from  the  high  standard  set  at  Provincetown. 
They  had  obtained  no  charter,  and  the  basis  of  their  govern- 
ment lay  in  the  consent  of  the  governed.  A  governor  and  an 
assistants  were  the  executive,  while  the  colony  itself  met  in 
general  court  to  form  the  legislative  body.  The  magistrates 
of  the  towns  passed  judgment  on  small  causes  and  the  more 
important  cases  were  heard  before  the  governor  and  assist- 
ants, with  a  jury  of  colonists.  At  the  time  of  their  starting, 
the  funds  for  the  expedition  had  been  provided  by  cer- 
tain adventurers  in  London  to  whom  the  proceeds  of  the 
adventure  of  the  colony  were  to  accrue  in  return  for  their  ad- 
vance. But  this  arrangement  proved  unsatisfactory.  The 
returns  from  the  colony  were  small,  and  the  adventurers  be- 
came discontented,  lost  their  interest  and  did  little  to  assist 
the  colonists.  But  in  1627  these  adventurers  were  bought 
out  by  certain  of  the  leading  colonists,  and  henceforth  the 
Colonists  were  debtors  to  no  man  save  themselves. 
3 


50  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Settlement  of  Massachusetts. 

The  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony— An  Attempt  to  Colonize  Cape  Ann— 
Salem— The  Charter— Preparations  for  Further  Emigration— The 
Emigrants— They  Land  at  Charlestown— Boston— The  Colony  Thrives 
—Roger  Williams— He  Makes  a  New  Settlement— The  ■  Pequods— 
Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson— More  Settlements— The  Different  Settle- 
ments Make  a  Confederacy— Missionary  Work  Among  the  Indians- 
John  Eliot— The  Quakers— Position  of  the  Colonies. 

O  UCH  was  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  of  New  England. 
O  The  Pilgrims  having  found  no  rest  for  their  consciences 
except  in  separation  from  the  Church  of  England,  and  finding 
that  such  religious  worship  as  seemed  to  them  right  was  not 
to  be  tolerated  in  England,  had  made  their  escape  to  Hol- 
land. But  not  liking  the  thought  of  ending  their  lives  in 
a  foreign  land,  they  had  sought  in  New  England  an  oppor- 
tunity for  that  form  of  religion  which  they  had  found  impos- 
sible in  England. 

Religious  views  of  much  the  same  nature  were  influential 
in  the  steps  which  led  to  the  settlement  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay  Colony.  There  were  many  in  England  who  saw  no  re- 
ligious or  civil  freedom  in  that  country,  and  they  turned  their 
eyes  across  the  Atlantic  imagining  that  there  they  should 
at  least  be  free  of  courts,  of  high  commissioners  and  of  star 
chambers.  These  were  not  views  of  religious  liberty,  of  re- 
ligious freedom,  as  we  use  the  words.  There  was  no  idea  of 
liberty  of  conscience.  Pilgrims  and  Puritans  alike  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  worship  as  they  thought  right.  They  had  no 
idea,  when  they  found  what  power  was  in  their  hands,  of 
allowing  indiscriminate  freedom  of  worship.  It  is  well  to  bear 
this  in  mind  throughout  any  study  of  New  England  history. 
But  it  was  not  from  religious  causes  alone  that  the  movement 


SETTLEMENT  OF   MASSACHUSETTS.  5 1 

sprung  which  resulted  in  the  settlement  of  Salem  and  Bos- 
ton. 

The  West  of  England  men  had  for  some  time  adventured 
in  the  New  England  fisheries,  which  they  found  profitable. 
But  the  ships  made  each  cruise  from  England  and  returned 
thither  each  year  with  their  "  catch."  The  only  landings  they 
made  in  New  England  were  for  the  purpose  of  drying  their 
fish,  that  they  might  bring  it  safely  home  with  them.  It  oc- 
curred to  the  Rev.  John  White,  of  Dorchester,  a  famous  Pu- 
ritan divine  (who  had  other  views  in  mind  as  well),  that  it 
would  be  no  bad  plan  to  form  a  company,  which  should  settle 
a  few  men  at  some  convenient  point  on  the  New  England 
shore,  who  should  be  able  to  assist  the  fishing  crews  by  pro- 
viding quarters  for  the  sailors  when  on  shore,  and  gain 
supplies  by  hunting  and  planting.  It  was  also  held  that  some 
religious  influence  might  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  mariners. 
A  company  was  formed,  known  as  the  Dorchester  Advent- 
urers, which  at  once  sent  out,  in  the  year  1623,  an  expedi- 
tion which  made  a  settlement  on  Cape  Ann.  But  no  success 
followed;  in  fact,  everything  went  wrong  ;  and  in  three  years' 
time  the  colony  was  abandoned  by  all  the  settlers  save  four 
— Roger  Conant,  Peter  Palfrey,  John  Balch  and  John  New- 
bury. At  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  Rev.  John  White  these 
four  men  remained,  to  be  reinforced  by  new  settlers.  Mr. 
White,  with  the  greater  number  of  the  English  Puritans, 
looked  on  New  England  as  a  possible  refuge  from  unbearable 
persecutions,  and  to  him  it  seemed  of  importance  that  any 
foothold  once  made  should  be  retained. 

The  Dorchester  Company  had  evidently  failed  ;  but  there 
were  others  interested.  Puritans  all  over  the  country  began 
to  consider  whether  it  might  not  be  possible  to  make  some- 
thing of  this  opportunity.  In  London  the  matter  was  dis- 
cussed from  a  commercial  as  well  as  a  religious  stand-point, 
and  there  were  many  who  thought  that  here  was  a  scheme 
which  deserved  assistance.  By  such  means  funds  to  a  con- 
siderable amount  were  collected,  and  the  right  man  appear- 
ing at  that  moment,  John  Endicott  by  name,  he  was  named 


52  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

as  governor  of  the  new  party  which  was  to  reinforce  the  rem- 
nant at  Cape  Ann.  A  patent  was  obtained  from  the  "  Grand 
Council  for  New  England,"  and  in  the  summer  of  1628  a 
considerable  party  was  sent  out,  which  formed  a  settlement 
at  Naumkeag,  whither  Conant  and  the  others  had  removed. 
The  colony,  consisting  of  about  sixty  persons,  settled  them- 
selves here  for  the  winter,  and  gave  the  name  of  Salem,  the  He- 
brew word  for  peace,  to  their  habitation. 

In  England  the  enterprise  became  further  enlarged. 
Certain  from  Boston,  in  Lincolnshire,  joined  themselves  to  it, 
and  the  company  was  incorporated  and  obtained  a  royal 
charter  under  the  name  of  the  "  Governor  and  Company  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England."  Matthew  Cradock 
was  named  in  the  charter  as  governor.  The  idea  was  like 
that  of  the  other  trading  companies:  a  governing  body  in  En- 
gland was  to  oversee  and  direct  the  proceedings  of  such  set- 
tlements as  might  be  made  in  the  New  World. 

The  constitution  of  the  company  was  as  follows:  Certain 
persons  were  named  in  the  charter  as  constituting  the  com- 
pany and  were  given  power  to  join  to  themselves  such  as  they 
deemed  proper.  These  "  freemen  "  were  to  elect  their  gov- 
ernor and  deputy  and  eighteen  assistants,  who  were  to  form 
a  sort  of  executive  board  for  the  transaction  of  all  busi- 
ness which  could  not  well  come  before  the  whole  company  at 
its  stated  meetings,  which  were  to  occur  four  times  a  year. 
The  oaths  of  supremacy  and  allegiance  might,  not  must,  be 
administered  to  freemen  by  the  governor,  deputy,  and  two 
assistants.  The  company  had  power  to  transport  settlers, 
who  might  be  settled  anywhere  within  the  territory  allowed  ; 
namely,  a  tract  of  land  extending  from  a  line  drawn  three 
miles  north  of  the  Merrimac  River  to  another  three  miles 
south  of  the  Charles,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  South  Sea. 
Within  this  territory  the  company  had  power  to  establish  such 
offices  as  they  deemed  necessary  and  to  take  such  steps  as 
were  necessary  for  the  planting  and  defense  of  their  settle- 
ment. Nothing  was  said  of  religion  or  religious  matters.  The 
company  was  strictly  forbidden  to   do  any  thing  inconsistent 


SETTLEMENT   OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  53 

with  the  laws  of  England.  Such  was  the  main  purport  of 
the  charter. 

It  was  intended  for  the  organization  and  use  of  a  trading 
company,  but  it  proved  entirely  sufficient  for  the  government 
of  a  colony,  and  it  was  under  this  charter  that  Massachusetts 
lived  for  fifty-five  years.  The  charter  having  been  obtained 
a  reinforcement  was  sent  to  Salem.  The  greater  number  of 
the  patentees  were  Puritans,  and  the  character  of  the  settle- 
ments was  of  the  same  nature.  Two  Puritan  ministers, 
Skelton  and  Higginson,  were  sent  out,  and  every  thing  went 
well.  Thus  far  the  governing  body  was  in  England,  and  the 
colony  sent  out  by  them  had  little  character  save  that  of  a 
trading  or  fishing  station.  The  next  year,  however,  an  im- 
portant change  was  made. 

The  charter  made  no  stipulations  as  to  where  the  meetings 
of  the  company  were  to  be  held.  It  had  probably  been 
always  in  the  minds  of  the  principal  members  of  the  com- 
pany to  make  of  their  settlement  an  asylum  for  religious  per- 
secution, although  no  such  idea  was  openly  mentioned.  But 
circumstances  forced  them  on.  The  state  of  affairs  in  En- 
gland was  such  that  many  Puritans  made  up  their  minds  that 
they  could  no  longer  remain  in  the  country.  A  large  num- 
ber of  the  company  resolved  to  emigrate.  It  was  decided  to 
take  the  charter  to  New  England  with  them;  to  hold  the 
meetings  of  the  company  there,  and  so  to  secure  a  far  greater 
measure  of  self-government  than  could  have  been  otherwise 
hoped  for.  Certain  proposals  to  that  end  were  read  before 
a  meeting  of  the  company,  a  number  of  gentlemen  pledged 
themselves  to  emigrate  if  an  arrangement  could  be  made 
whereby  the  charter  might  be  transferred  to  America,  and  a 
new  board  of  officers  was  chosen.  John  Winthrop  was  elected 
governor,  and  Humphrey,  who  was  afterward  replaced  by 
Thomas  Dudley,  deputy;  for  neither  Cradock  nor  Humphrey 
proposed  to  emigrate.  Measures  were  at  once  adopted  for 
carrying  through  the  new  plan.  This  was  in  the  summer  and 
fall  of  the  year  1629. 

On  April  7,  1630,  preparation  having  been  diligently  made 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

throughout  the  winter,  John  Winthrop  and  his  company, 
numbering  about  seven  hundred  persons,  set  sail  in  eleven 
ships  for  New  England.  The  expedition  was  one  of  greater 
importance  and  moment  in  the  eye  of  the  world  than  the 
humble  voyage  of  the  Mayflower,  but  history  does  not  make 
such  a  distinction.  The  leaders  in  the  enterprise  were  per- 
sons of  consideration.  John  Winthrop  was  a  man  of  good 
family  and  of  some  property,  bred  to  the  law  and  accustomed 
to  the  best  society  in  England.  Dudley  had  been  stew- 
ard of  the  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln.  Johnson,  one  of 
the  assistants,  was  the  son-in-law  of  the  same  nobleman. 
Theophilus  Eaton  had  been  at  one  time  minister  to  Denmark. 
Vassar,  Bradstreet  and  Saltonstall  were  men  of  family  and 
estate.  Many  of  the  emigrants  were  graduates  of  the  uni- 
versities. Though  by  no  means  the  highest  persons  of  the 
realm,  they  were  persons  of  reputation  and  estate,  of  intelli- 
gence and  education.  Added  to  this,  they  were  ruled  by 
steady  and  sincere  religious  purposes.  They  were  members 
of  the  Church  of  England,  and  in  their  parting  address,  while 
asking  prayer  and  good  wishes  for  the  success  of  their  under- 
taking, they  spoke  of  their  necessary  separation  from  the 
country  where  that  Church  "  specially  resideth,  with  much 
sadness  of  heart  and  many  tears." 

After  a  passage  of  about  nine  weeks  the  Arbella,  the  chief 
ship  (named  after  the  Lady  Arbella  Johnson,  wife  of  one  of 
the  assistants),  anchored  in  Salem  harbor  and  was  shortly 
after  joined  by  the  rest  of  the  fleet.  After  a  short  stay  at 
Salem  they  proceeded  to  pitch  upon  a  place  of  settlement, 
and  in  the  end  of  June  they  landed  at  Mishawum,  shonly 
after  called  Charlestown,  and  settled  at  that  place.  Many 
of  them  subsequently  moved  across  the  Charles  River  to  the 
Peninsula  of  Shawmut,  to  which  the  name  Boston  was  after- 
ward given,  in  recollection  of  the  town  in  Lincolnshire  from 
which  many  of  them  had  come.  Others  settled  near  at  hand, 
some  in  Newtown,  afterward  Cambridge,  and  at  Dorchester, 
Roxbury  and  Watertown.  In  each  town  the  settlers  at  once 
entered  into  church  covenants.     On  August  23  the  first  court 


FREEDOM   OF  OPINION.  55 

of  assistants  was  held,  and  in  October  was  held  the  first  gen- 
eral court  at  Boston,  to  which  many  of  the  settlers  had  moved 
from  Charlestown  in  search  of  a  good  supply  of  water.  The 
colony  was  well  and  fairly  started. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony; 
perhaps  the  best  instance  of  the  working  out  of  the  Puritan 
ideal  of  a  State,  although  at  this  time  the  ideals  of  the  found- 
ers may  not  have  been  well  rounded.  As  time  went  on  the 
details  were  more  thoroughly  elaborated,  and  through  a 
period  of  thirty  years  we  may  trace  the  rise  of  what  we  may 
call  the  Puritan  Ideal  Commonwealth.  The  basis  of  the 
structure  was  implicit  obedience  to  the  law  of  God  in  all 
things.  Government  and  morals,  in  private  life  as  well  as 
public,  were  ordered  by  the  rule  of  the  Scriptures.  For 
thirty  years  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  being  allowed  to  do 
much  as  it  pleased,  strengthened  itself  on  this  basis.  The 
Commonwealth  was  purged  and  purified  by  the  casting  out 
of  Roger  Williams,  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  the  Quakers,  and  such 
others  as  dissented  from  the  general  opinions  of  the  people. 
It  was  strengthened  by  its  geographical  enlargement  and  by 
its  victories  over  the  Indians,  whom  it  subsequently  received 
as  children  for  religious  teaching.  Its  freedom  of  outside  in- 
terference was  in  many  ways  asserted.  The  rise  of  this  ideal 
continued  for  thirty  years.  After  that  time  we  see  its  grad- 
ual downfall,  beginning  with  the  restoration  of  Charles  II. 
and  culminating  in  the  usurpation  of  Andros  and  the  pro- 
vincial charter. 

The  colony,  being  once  begun,  grew  rapidly.  In  about  ten 
years  all  emigration  from  England  had  ceased;  but  even  by 
this  time  the  growth  had  been  large,  both  geographically  and 
in  population.  The  settlers  had  pushed  inland,  up  the  rivers 
and  into  the  country.  They  had  also  spread  up  and  down  the 
coast.  In  1640  they  numbered  perhaps  fifteen  times  the  thou- 
sand which  had  come  with  Winthrop  and  before. 

The  first  instance  of  the  colony's  strengthening  itself 
against  itself,  of  which  other  instances  will  occur,  was  in  the 
expulsion  of  Roger  Williams.     Williams  was  a  young  clergy- 


56  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

man  who  settled  first  at  Boston  and  then  at  Salem,  whose 
views  seemed  to  his  brother  ministers  and  to  many  of  the 
people  harmful  and  dangerous.  He  was  expostulated  with 
quietly  at  first,  and  then  with  more  vigor.  Being  found  ob- 
durate he  was  banished.  It  is  not  for  our  purpose  necessary 
to  consider  whether  his  views  were  or  were  not  absolutely 
more  correct  than  those  of  his  persecutors.  The  point  is 
that  the  will  of  the  colony  resolved  to  assert  itself,  and  to  en- 
force that  conformity  which  they  thought  necessary,  in  much 
the  same  way  that  Archbishop  Laud  had  attempted  to  en- 
force the  conformity  he  thought  necessary.  Other  things  in 
the  colony  pointed  in  the  same  direction.  The  franchise  was 
allowed  only  to  church  members,  and  church  members  were 
admitted  only  on  satisfactory  proof  of  the  orthodoxy  of  their 
views  and  lives. 

As  for  Roger  Williams,  he  traveled  through  the  forests  in 
the  winter,  and  coming  out  of  the  Massachusetts  patent  and 
to  the  head  of  Narragansett  Bay  he  purchased  land  of  the 
Indians,  to  whom  he  was  not  unknown,  and  with  a  few  friends 
settled  a  town  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Providence. 
Instead  of  following  the  example  of  his  Massachusetts  neigh- 
bors, who  having  fled  from  intolerance  in  England  would 
have  no  toleration  in  America,  he  and  those  with  him  allowed 
the  widest  liberty  of  conscience  to  those  who  might  choose 
to  join  them.  In  another  direction  also  did  the  settlers 
spread,  though  not  for  like  reasons.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
towns  near  Boston,  finding  themselves  cramped  for  room  for 
all  their  cattle,  turned  their  eyes  to  the  rich  meadows  of  the 
Connecticut  River,  and  in  the  year  1634  they  crossed  the 
country  and  settled  in  three  towns  on  that  river.  The  next 
year  they  were  joined  by  others,  and  being  outside  of  the 
bounds  of  the  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth  patents  they  set 
up  a  government  for  themselves,  resembling  in  character,  as 
was  natural,  that  of  the  jurisdictions  they  had  left. 

For  the  first  few  years  after  the  settlement  of  Massachusetts 
there  were  no  Indian  troubles,  but  with  the  settlement  of 
Connecticut  the  colonists  came  in  contact  with  the  Pequods, 


MRS.   HUTCHINSON.  57 

a  tribe  which  inhabited  the  southern  part  of  New  England, 
and  Indian  outrages  finally  led  to  what  was  known  as  the 
Pequod  war.  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  banded  to- 
gether against  their  savage  foes.  The  Pequods  strove  to 
form  an  alliance  with  the  Narragansetts,  but  the  Narragan- 
sett  chieftains  were  deterred  from  war  by  the  counsels  of 
Roger  Williams,  who  thus  found  an  opportunity  of  returning 
good  for  evil.  The  Pequods,  left  alone  to  cope  with  the  En- 
glish, who  were  joined  by  the  Mohegans,  a  tribe  of  Connect- 
icut Indians,  were  utterly  destroyed.  The  English  made  an 
expedition  into  their  country,  captured  and  burned  their  chief 
town,  and  pursued  the  scattered  remnants  of  the  tribe,  and 
thus  the  Pequod  nation  was  removed  from  the  face  of  New 
England. 

The  danger  from  without  was  no  sooner  removed  than 
Massachusetts  was  threatened  from  within.  More  unorthodox 
views  appeared,  emanating  from  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  the 
brilliant  wife  of  a  considerable  merchant  of  Boston.  The 
people,  keenly  alive  to  religious  controversy,  arrayed  them- 
selves on  the  different  sides.  Mrs.  Hutchinson  found  coun- 
tenance in  Mr.  John  Wheelwright,  the  minister  of  Braintree, 
her  brother-in-law,  in  John  Cotton,  one  of  the  ministers  of 
the  church  at  Boston,  and  in  Henry  Vane,  the  young  gov- 
ernor of  the  Commonwealth.  But  the  clergy  of  the  colony 
were  almost  unanimous  against  her,  and  the  congregations  in 
general  followed  their  pastors.  Vane  also  left  the  colony  for 
England  before  affairs  had  come  to  a  crisis.  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
son and  Mr.  Wheelwright  were  tried  and  banished,  and  their 
adherents  lost  their  civil  rights.  The  colony  had  once  more 
purified  itself,  and  strengthened  itself  in  its  aspirations  toward 
the  ideal  in  the  minds  of  its  chief  men. 

Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  many  of  those  who  thought  as  she 
did  removed  from  Massachusetts  Bay,  and,  purchasing  of 
the  Indians  the  largest  island  in  Narragansett  Bay,  they  set- 
tled there.  They  made  but  a  turbulent  settlement  for  a  time, 
quarreling   with   each  other,    separating   and   joining   again. 

Mrs.  Hutchinson  subsequently  moved  to  Long  Island,  where 
3* 


58  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

she  was  some  little  time  after  murdered  in  an  Indian  war. 
Gorton  planted  Warwick,  in  Rhode  Island,  in  1642.  Wheel- 
wright, on  leaving  Massachusetts  settled  a  few  miles  from 
its  northern  line  at  what  is  now  Exeter,  in  the  State  of  New 
Hampshire.  There  were  other  settlements  here  on  the  Pis- 
cataqua  River,  notably  Dover  and  Strawberry  Bank.  New 
Haven  was  also  settled  at  about  this  time  by  a  party  of  strict 
Puritans  coming  from  England  under  Davenport.  They  set 
up  a  system  of  government  even  more  rigid  than  that  of 
Massachusetts.  The  Bible,  and  more  particularly  the  Old 
Testament,  was  taken  as  the  guide  for  all  things.  The  new 
colony  prospered,  and  was  able  to  send  out  settlers  along  Long 
Island  Sound  and  also  inland.  Connecticut  also  had  ex- 
tended up  and   down  the   Connecticut  Valley. 

There  were  in  the  year  1642  more  than  twenty-five  thou- 
sand English  inhabitants  in  New  England.  They  were  gath- 
ered together  in  separate  jurisdictions  and  scattered  all  over 
the  country.  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  New 
Haven  were  the  most  considerable  of  the  governments. 
There  were  three  separate  groups  in  Rhode  Island,  and  along 
the  New  Hampshire  and  Maine  shore  was  a  scattered  string 
of  settlements,  subject  to  no  government  at  all.  The  chief 
men  in  the  leading  colonies  saw  a  need  of  some  union.  The 
French  and  the  Dutch  were  possible  enemies  on  the  north  and 
the  south  ;  the  Indians  were  always  at  the  border.  The  four 
chief  colonies  joined  themselves  into  a  confederacy  for  mutual 
offense  and  defense.  The  Rhode  Island  settlements  and  the 
few  towns  to  the  north  were  refused  admittance,  for  the  spirit 
of  their  government  was  by  no  means  in  keeping  with  the 
Puritan  ideal.  The  Confederacy  was  loose  in  its  nature — that 
is,  the  individual  colonies  delegated  to  the  general  govern- 
ment certain  powers  in  peace  and  war,  but  reserved  to  them- 
selves the  care  of  their  own  internal  affairs.  Two  commis- 
sioners from  each  colony  made  up  the  governing  body  of  the 
New  England  Confederation,  forming  a  board  both  executive 
and  legislative  in  its  nature.  The  great  difficulty  in  the  case 
lay  in  the  great  preponderance  of  Massachusetts,  which,  hav- 


- 

ELIOT  AND    MAYHEW.  59 

ing  almost  twice  as  many  inhabitants  as  all  the  other  three 
colonies  put  together,  would  be  likely  to  assert  a  superiority 
which  was  by  no  means  in  keeping  with  the  ideas  of  the  smaller 
colonies  in  the  matter.  The  articles  of  confederation  gave 
equal  power  to  all  four  members.  But,  as  it  proved,  Massa- 
chusetts was  continually  endeavoring  to  overstep  the  bounds 
of  that  instrument,  and  thereby  endangering  the  existence  of 
the  union.  Although  the  confederation  lasted  for  twenty- 
three  years,  there  was  much  disagreement,  owing  to  the  over- 
bearing, though  highly  excusable,  behavior  of  the  Massachu- 
setts colony. 

We  should  by  no  means  give  a  fair  view  of  the  growth  of 
the  colonies  if  we  omitted  mention  of  the  missionary  work 
done  among  the  Indians.  As  the  Massachusetts  colony  grew 
too  strong  to  fear  any  danger  from  the  red  men,  she  gradually 
assumed  the  .  position  of  mother  over  them  as  far  as  their 
religious  welfare  was  concerned.  The  story  of  the  labors  of 
her  earnest  ministers  among  the  Indians  is  the  most  pathetic 
episode  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  colony.  The  pict- 
ure of  the  stern  Puritans,  their  hearts  reaching  out  in  pity 
for  the  wretched  spiritual  condition  of  these  poor  heathen, 
and  endeavoring  in  their  own  hard  and  bungling  way  to  do  what 
needs  all  the  sympathy  and  tenderness  that  human  nature  is 
capable  of,  gives  us  a  half-inspiring,  half-melancholy  view  of 
the  character  of  the  Puritan  ideal,  which  should  be  taken  into 
consideration  when  we  think  of  some  of  its  blacker  qualities. 
No  idea  of  their  fond  hopes  and  longings  in  this  direction 
can  be  gained  better  than  that  got  from  the  quaint  names  of 
the  little  pamphlets  which  described  their  struggles  and 
reverses  and  their  humble  successes.  "  The  Day  Breaking 
if  not  the  Sun  Rising,"  comes  first  ;  next  in  order  are  "Clear 
Sunshine"  and  the  "Glorious  Sunshine." 

The  first  efforts  were  made  by  Thomas  Mayhew,  who,  in 
1644,  went  to  work  among  the  Indians  in  Martha's  Vineyard. 
In  1646  John  Eliot  made  his  first  attempt.  Assembling  cer- 
tain of  the  Indians  he  went  among  them  on  Sunday  after- 
noons with  some  friends,  and  preached  and  prayed  with  them 


60  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

and  endeavored  to  answer  such  questions  as  they  might  ask. 
The  Indians  were  interested,  and  sometimes  would  ask  such 
questions  as  puzzled  the  worthy  divine.  Others  were  con- 
tumacious. "Who  made  sack?"  asked  one  on  hearing  of 
the  powers  of  the  Creator.  For  years  the  work  went  on. 
The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  was  formed  in 
England.  An  Indian  college  was  established  at  Harvard,  for 
the  training  of  ministers  who  might  carry  the  Gospel  to  their 
own  people.  Eliot  translated  the  Bible  into  the  Indian  lan- 
guage. Later  the  "praying  Indians,"  as  they  were  called, 
were  gathered  together  into  towns,  and  Daniel  Gookin  was 
chosen  to  be  ruler  over  them.  Progress  was  slow,  but  the 
generous  men  hoped  greater  things  and  had  faith.  But  their 
hopes  were  destined  to  remain  unfulfilled.  In  1672  there 
were  among  the  Indians  fourteen  towns  and  two  churches, 
and  eleven  hundred  "  souls  yielding  obedience  to  the  Gos- 
pel." But  the  number  declined.  Ten  years  afterward  there 
were  but  four  praying  towns,  and  afterward  the  numbers 
rapidly  declined.  In  Plymouth,  too,  the  work  was  not  pro- 
ductive of  more  lasting  results.  But  the  movement  must  be 
remembered  as  showing  a  bright  side  to  the  Puritan  char- 
acter. 

We  must,  however,  now  take  up  a  darker  topic.  Wc  have 
seen  how  zealous  were  the  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  for 
purity  of  religious  thought  as  they  understood  it.  Roger 
Williams  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson  are  examples  of  the  colony's 
purging  itself  of  such  evil  elements.  In  the  same  line  is  the 
episode  of  the  Quakers.  These  people,  rising  into  notice 
in  England  through  their  sincere  if  eccentric  views,  were 
attracted  to  New  England  by  the  idea  borne  in  upon  them 
that  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  bear  their  testimony  to  a 
people  where  the  inner  light,  as  they  esteemed  it,  was  not 
permitted  to  shine.  They  courted  persecution  and  received 
it.  The  punishment  of  one  drew  many.  The  rulers  of  the 
colony  looked  on  their  appearance  with  the  same  disfavor 
with  which  they  beheld  all  other  difference  with  their  relig- 
ious opinions.     Holding  strongly  to  their  idea  of  what  was 


INDEPENDENCE.  6l 

right,  they  could  not  in  that  age  see  with  complacency  the 
spread  of  religious  views  opposed  to  them.  For  the  sake  of 
the  souls  committed  to  their  hands  they  could  not  remain 
still.  The  Quakers  were  whipped,  mutilated  and  banished. 
They  returned  again  and  again.  Persecution  only  served  to 
strengthen  their  desire  to  bear  their  testimony  against  such 
unrighteousness.  At  last  four  of  them,  on  returning  to  Mas- 
sachusetts after  repeated  banishment,  were  hanged.  Even 
the  most  extreme  measures  were  better  than  the  spread  of 
heresy;  such  was  the  opinion  of  Endicott,  then  governor 
and  of  Norton.  But  they  had  gone  in  this  too  far,  and  pop- 
ular sentiment  forbade  the  continuance  of  such  harshness. 
The  Quakers  conquered. 

We  must  look  at  both  sides  in  considering  the  Puritan 
proceedings  against  the  Quakers.  We  must  not  content  our- 
selves with  saying  that  the  Puritans  were  bigoted  and  fanat- 
ical. We  must  acknowledge  also  that  it  appeared  to  them 
that  the  presence  of  the  Quakers  endangered  the  structure 
of  that  Commonwealth  to  sustain  which  they  held  to  be 
their  highest  duty  in  the  sight  of  God,  before  which  all  other 
considerations  were  not  to  be  thought  of  for  a  moment. 
Undoubtedly  the  Puritans  were  harsh,  bigoted,  fanatical,  cruel. 
They  were  also  earnest,  sincere,  religious,  and  firm  to  their 
idea  of  right. 

The  Quaker  invasion  of  Massachusetts  shows  us  the  Pur- 
itan Commonwealth  at  its  height.  The  State  was  founded  on 
the  law  of  God.  None  but  truly  religious  persons  had  a 
hand  in  shaping  its  course.  It  had  spread  over  the  country 
and  had  prospered  largely  in  its  planting  and  its  commerce. 
Having  overcome  its  Indian  neighbors  it  was  endeavoring  to 
raise  this  wretched  people  into  a  better  state.  And  it  had 
never  hesitated  to  purge  itself  in  the  harshest  manner  in  order 
to  keep  pure  those  doctrines  on  which  rested  the  whole 
foundation  of  the  State. 

It  may  seem  curious  that  a  mere  colony  should  have  been 
able  to  place  itself  in  such  a  position.  In  truth,  the  colony 
had,  up  to  this  time,  been  virtually  independent  of  England. 


62  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  people  had  defied  the  English  power  when  their  charter 
was  demanded.  They  had  refused  to  allow  the  English  flag 
to  be  spread  over  their  towns.  They  administered  justice  in 
the  name  of  God  and  not  in  that  of  the  king.  They  coined 
money  themselves.  They  had  denied  the  right  of  appeal  to 
England  from  the  judgments  pronounced  by  their  own  courts. 
They  paid  her  no  taxes.  In  a  word,  they  were  and  for  some 
years  had  been  practically  an  independent  State.  To  appre- 
ciate this  clearly  we  must  recall  to  mind  some  of  the  chief 
events  of  English  history  since  the  settlement  of  Boston  in 
1630. 


PHILIP'S   WAR.  63 


CHAPTER  V. 

Philip's    War. 

King  Philip's  War — Suspicions  of  Plymouth  Colony — Indian  Alarm  at 
Swansea — Neutrality  of  Narragansett — Danger  in  Connecticut — Mas- 
sachusetts— Troops  March  for  Rhode  Island — Defeat  of  Narragansetts 
— Burning  of  Lancaster — Burning  of  Marlboro — Battle  in  Pawtuxet — 
Critical  Contest. 

THE  most  critical  incident  in  the  first  century  of  New- 
England  life  was  that  of  Philip's  war.  Philip  was  an 
Indian  chief,  whose  native  name  was  Metacom  or  Metacomet. 
He  was  one  of  two  sons  of  Massasoit,  the  early  friend  of  the 
Plymouth  colonists,  at  whose  request  the  famous  names  Al- 
exander and  Philip  had  been  given  to  these  two  young  men, 
with  fit  explanations  as  to  the  greatness  of  the  Greek  chief- 
tains who  had  formerly  borne  them.  Alexander  was  the 
older  of  the  two,  but  he  died  not  long  after  his  father,  and 
Philip  succeeded  to  such  rights  and  power  as  he  had,  as 
sachem  of  his  tribe. 

Rightly  or  wrongly,  the  heads  of  the  Plymouth  colony  very 
early  suspected  Philip  of  intriguing  against  them  with  the 
Dutch  of  New  York,  who  were  always  feeling  their  way  along 
Long  Island  Sound.  It  was  even  thought  that  Philip  com- 
municated with  the  more  distant  French  on  the  northern  and 
western  frontier.  Between  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  settlements  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire 
there  was  a  wild  wilderness  region,  only  used  by  the  Indians 
as  a  hunting-ground.  But  there  were  paths  through  it,  per- 
fectly well  known;  the  distance  is  not  great,  and  a  dread  was 
felt  even  then  of  a  possible  invasion  from  Frenchmen,  a  dread 
which  another  generation  fully  justified. 

Philip  himself,  once  and  again,  tried  to  persuade  the  people 


64  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

of  Plymouth  that  they  did  him  injustice.  He  came  to  one 
and  another  quite  important  conference  with  them  and  gave 
securities  of  different  kinds  that  should  bind  him  to  keep  the 
peace  with  them  and  others.  But  they  never  lost  sight  of 
him,  and  it  would  seem  that  their  leaders  never  ceased  to 
suspect  him.  Meanwhile  he  gained  more  influence  among 
his  own  people  than  any  other  chieftain  known  to  us,  at  any 
period  of  New  England  history. 

For  many  years  there  was  thus  a  sensitive  feeling  between 
the  Plymouth  colonists  and  Philip,  and  this  sensitive  feeling 
extended  to  a  less  degree  into  the  Massachusetts  Colony. 
The  bolt  fell  at  last  in  June,  1675.  In  that  year  and  the 
next  the  colonists  of  New  England  fought,  as  they  believed, 
for  their  lives  and  their  very  existence  against  the  Indians, 
who  were  thoroughly  aroused  to  making  every  effort  in  their 
power.  It  is  curious  now  to  observe  that  this  was  just  a 
hundred  years  before  the  great  struggle  which  resulted  in  the 
independence  of  the  United  States.  But  when  that  struggle 
came,  men  were  so  engaged  in  the  crisis  itself  that  thus  far  no 
one  has  found  in  the  history  of  1775  any  allusion  to  the  fact 
that,  in  the  marshaling  of  men,  they  were  celebrating  the 
centennial  anniversary  of  the  most  critical  moment  in  the 
history  of  their  infant  State. 

On  the  2istof  June,  1675,  Win  slow,  the  Governor  of  Plym- 
outh, sent  a  letter  by  express  to  Leverett,  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  to  say  to  him  that  the  Indians  had 
alarmed  the  people  of  Swansea,  and  that  they  had  retreated 
to  their  block  house.  Swansea  was  a  frontier  town  on  the 
edge  of  Rhode  Island.  The  Massachusetts  Council  assembled 
at  once  and  sent  delegates  to  the  Narragansetts,  with  whom 
they  were  in  alliance,  ordering  them  not  to  come  into  any 
league  with  Philip.  They  at  once  ordered  the  militia  of 
Boston  and  the  neighboring  towns  to  draft  a  hundred  able- 
bodied  soldiers  for  an  expedition,  and  these  men  were  sum- 
moned to  meet  at  six  in  the  evening  on  the  25th  of  June.  On 
the  next  day  Dennison  was  appointed  their  commander,  and 
under  Captain  Henchman  and  Captain  Prentiss  they  marched 


DANGER  AT  SWANSEA.  6$ 

south  against  what  enemy  they  might  find.  Meanwhile  the 
Plymouth  men  had  sent  a  body  of  troops  to  protect  Swansea, 
and  on  the  24th,  25th  and  26th  days  of  June  the  first  blood 
was  shed  by  the  Indians,  who  killed  five  or  six  persons.  It 
will  be  difficult  now  to  say  how  far  the  Nipmucks  and  the  Nar- 
ragansetts  at  first  engaged  in  the  controversy.  They  declared 
that  they  were  innocent  of  any  complicity,  but  public  opin- 
ion in  New  England  at  that  time  was  sternly  and  bitterly 
against  all  Indians,  and  the  declaration  of  these  men  was 
never  received  as  any  thing  but  a  blind.  Boston  at  once 
raised  eight  companies  of  troops,  and  in  all  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  men  were  called  out  to  suppress  the  rising  of  the 
Indians,  whatever  it  might  be. 

Whatever  had  been  Philip's  plans,  he  was  alarmed  by  the 
rallying  of  the  forces  of  Massachusetts  and  of  Plymouth. 
Almost  immediately  after  the  affair  at  Swansea,  Mendon,  in 
the  western  part  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  settlements,  was 
attacked  by  some  Nipmuck  Indians.  This  was  a  tribe  dif- 
ferent from  the  tribe  of  which  Philip  was  the  immediate  chief. 
The  colonists  of  both  colonies  were  satisfied  that  a  general 
movement  was  attempted  against  them.  Hutchinson,  with 
twenty  troopers,  went  on  an  errand  of  peace  to  meet  a  great 
party  of  Nipmucks  at  Brookfield.  He  did  not  find  them  at 
the  place  agreed  upon.  Going  farther  in  search  of  them  he 
fell  into  an  ambuscade,  was  wounded  himself,  and  eight  of 
his  party  were  killed.  This  was  an  evidence  that  the  Nip- 
mucks meant  serious  war.  Hutchinson's  party  retreated  to 
Brookfield,  where  they  were  at  once  besieged  and  were  in 
great  danger.  But  they  were  relieved  by  a  party  of  forty- 
seven  horsemen  under  Willard.  Philip  at  once  came  across 
to  the  Nipmucks  and  congratulated  them  on  their  successes. 
From  this  time  certainly  his  tribe  and  the  Nipmucks  were 
allies. 

The  Narragansetts,  however,  had  bound  themselves  to  re- 
main neutral  in  this  contest.  When,  in  September,  commis- 
sioners from  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts  and  New  England 
and  Plymouth  met  they  still  hoped  that  the  Narragansetts 


66  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

were  not  their  enemies.  They  agreed  to  raise  a  thousand 
soldiers  for  a  war  which  "  had  been  in  the  first  rise  a  defen- 
sive war,  but  must  now,  like  other  wars,  be  a  war  of  attack  as 
well  as  defense."  It  is  supposed  that  at  this  time  the  num- 
ber of  colonists  in  New  England  and  the  number  of  Indians 
was  about  equal.  The  Indians  were  acquainted  with  fire- 
arms, and,  through  the  whole  contest  which  followed,  had 
little  difficulty  in  providing  themselves  with  ammunition. 

The  commissioners  of  the  colony  held  a  session  almost  con- 
tinuous through  the  weeks  of  a  sad  and  anxious  autumn.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  frontier  villages  up  and  down  the  Connect- 
icut lived  in  danger,  and  one  after  another  was  abandoned. 
The  head-quarters  of  the  Massachusetts  men  were  at  Hadley. 
A  party  of  them  was  sent  to  Deerfield,  which  had  been  aban- 
doned, to  bring  in  the  grain  which  the  settlers  had  left  there. 
This  party  was  under  Lothrop.  They  succeeded  in  their 
immediate  object  and  proceeded  on  their  return  with  the  grain 
and  some  furniture  of  the  inhabitants,  marching  slowly,  while 
their  rear  was  protected  by  a  company  under  Mosely.  At 
about  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  September, 
as  they  stopped  to  gather  grapes  at  "  Bloody  Brook,"  as  the 
place  has  been  called  ever  since,  they  were  assailed  by  Ind- 
ians, and  all  but  seven  or  eight  were  killed.  The  company 
was  known  as  the  "  Flower  of  Essex,"  being  a  body  of  picked 
men  from  this  county  on  the  seashore.  Mosely  heard  the 
firing,  marched  to  relieve  his  comrades  and  was  able  to  carry 
away  the  wounded.  He  buried  the  dead  and  retired  on 
Hadley.  After  this  attack  Springfield,  Hadley,  Northamp- 
ton and  Hatfield  were  the  only  towns  which  the  English 
held  on  the  Connecticut  River.  These  towns  were  attacked 
once  and  again,  but  after  October  there  were  no  serious  at- 
tacks, and  it  was  supposed  that  the  Indians  had  fallen  back 
upon  the  Narragansetts.  From  this  time  the  commissioners 
believed  no  longer  that  the  Narragansetts  were  their  friends. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  success  of  the  Nipmucks  on  the 
Connecticut  River  emboldened  them.  At  first  they  had 
affected   a  willingness    to  give  up  the  hostile  Indians  whom 


OVERTHROW  OF  THE  NARRAGANSETTS.      67 

they  were  protecting.  But  when  the  day  for  the  surrender 
arrived  they  failed  to  keep  their  promise.  The  commission- 
ers at  once  determined  to  raise  an  additional  force  of  a  thou- 
sand men  to  fight  against  the  Narragansetts.  They  gave  the 
Narragansetts  fair  notice  of  this,  intimating  that  they  must 
make  reparation  for  damages  in  the  past,  with  security  for 
future  fidelity.  On  the  9th  of  December  the  Massachusetts 
troops  marched  for  Rhode  Island.  They  were  joined  by  two 
companies  from  Plymouth,  five  from  Connecticut,  and  fifty 
allies  from  the  Mohegans.  Governor  Winslow  took  the  com- 
mand at  the  place  known  as  Pettyquamscot,  where  the  En- 
glish had  their  farthest  garrison.  They  knew  that  the  Nar- 
ragansetts were  to  be  found  at  their  fastness  eighteen  miles  to 
the  westward. 

This  place  is  singularly  well  adapted  for  the  necessities  of 
savage  warfare.  It  reminds  one  of  the  points  described  in 
the  life  of  King  Alfred  of  England  as  the  strongholds  of  the 
Saxons  against  the  Danes,  or  the  Danes  against  the  Saxons. 
An  island  of  five  or  six  acres  is  surrounded  by  a  large  swamp, 
which  can  only  be  approached  on  certain  artificial  causeways. 
On  the  inner  side  of  this  swamp  the  Indians  had  driven  rows 
of  palisades,  and  the  only  entrance  between  these  palisades  was 
a  rude  bridge  four  or  five  feet  from  the  ground  and  water.  This 
bridge  was  protected  by  a  block  house.  The  English  force 
attacked  on  the  19th  of  December.  They  had  marched  from 
their  block  house  at  five  in  the  morning.  They  had  spent 
the  night  without  shelter  under  the  open  sky.  Their  march 
of  eighteen  miles  was  through  wet  snow,  and  they  arrived  at 
the  savage  fortress  at  one  in  the  afternoon.  There  was  no 
opportunity  for  stategy.  The  place  must  be  taken  by  storm 
if  taken  at  all.  Accordingly  they  stormed  in  column  over  the 
bridge.  Johnson,  of  Roxbury,  was  shot  at  the  head  of  his 
company.  Davenport,  of  Boston,  entered  the  inclosure  only 
to  be  killed.  Gardner,  of  Salem,  a  third  captain,  and  two  of 
the  Connecticut  captains  were  killed  at  once.  Bradford,  a 
major  of  Plymouth,  was  wounded.  Mason,  another  Connect- 
icut captain,  was  wounded,  and  died  of  his  wounds  in  a  few 


68  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

days.  These  losses  of  officers  show  how  close  was  the 
conflict.  But  the  English  were  all  lost  if  they  did  not  keep 
on.  They  continued  the  conflict  for  two  or  three  hours.  It 
is  said  that  they  once  drove  their  assailants  out  of  the  fort, 
and  that  they  rallied  and  regained  their  ground.  But  as  the 
day  closed  the  English  held  it  in  triumph.  They  finished 
their  work  by  setting  fire  to  the  wigwams  inclosed  in  the  fort. 
Of  the  thousand  men  who  joined  in  the  attack  seventy  were 
killed  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  wounded.  With  the  loss  of 
the  wigwams  they  had  no  place  left  them  for  shelter.  They 
did  not  dare  spend  the  night  in  the  open  air  with  their 
wounded,  and  in  anew  storm  of  snow  they  marched  back  to  the 
town  of  Wickford,  where  they  found  shelter  in  Smith's  plan- 
tation. 

By  this  summary  act  the  force  of  the  Narragansetts  was  com- 
pletely broken.  It  was  thought  at  the  time  that  Philip  was  in 
the  action,  but  it  afterward  proved  that  this  was  not  true. 

Not  many  weeks  passed  before  Lancaster,  a  town  only 
thirty-five  miles  west  from  Boston,  which  had  nearly  three 
hundred  inhabitants  living  in  fifty  houses,  was  attacked  at 
sunrise  and,  excepting  two  fortified  houses,  was  burned.  The 
house  of  Rowlandson,  the  minister,  became  a  fortress,  in 
which  several  of  the  people  took  refuge.  Twelve  of  them 
were  killed  and  only  one  of  them  escaped,  and  the  rest  of 
them  were  taken  captives.  Mrs.  Rowlandson,  with  her  daugh- 
ter, a  child  of  six  years  old,  was  among  these.  The  child 
died  after  some  days,  but  the  mother  remained  with  the  sav- 
ages for  three  months.  She  was  then  ransomed  for  twenty 
pounds  and  joined  her  husband.  Her  narrative  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  accounts  which  we  have  of  these  calamities, 
and  shows,  better,  perhaps,  than  any  other  authority  we  can 
consult,  the  nature  of  the  life  of  the  New  England  Indians  of 
that  time.  The  town  of  Marlboro  was  the  next  to  suffer,  on 
the  26th  of  March ;  and  at  the  same  time,  in  a  battle  in  Paw- 
tuxet,  fifty  Englishmen  and  eight  Indians  were  killed  by  a 
party  of  Narragansetts.  On  the  same  day  several  of  the  En- 
glish, who  were  going  to  Springfield  to  divine  service,  fell  into 


turner's  FALLS.  69 

ambush  and  were  killed.  Through  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1676  such  predatory  warfare  was  carried  on,  and  ten  or 
twelve  towns  more  were  wholly  or  partially  destroyed.  The 
warfare  continued  in  the  Narragansett  country  and  on  the 
western  frontier  of  Massachusetts.  At  last,  on  the  18th  of 
May,  Turner,  of  Boston,  in  command  of  an  English  force, 
heard  of  a  large  party  at  the  falls  of  the  river  Connecticut 
which  now  bear  his  name,  and  with  a  party  of  nearly  two 
hundred  men  surprised  them  at  daylight.  Three  hundred  of 
the  Indians  perished.  The  English  lost  only  one  man.  But 
in  Turner's  retreat,  for  he  did  not  dare  to  hold  his  position,  his 
column  was  surrounded  and  he  was  himself  killed,  with  more 
than  forty  of  his  men.  Emboldened  by  this  success  the  In- 
dians attacked  Hatfield  and  fired  several  buildings.  But  the 
garrison  was  relieved  from  Hadley  and  the  Indians  driven 
away. 

A  little  after,  Talcott,  with  a  considerable  English  force, 
attacked  a  strong  Indian  force  and  routed  them,  and  after 
this  experience  the  western  frontier  of  Massachusetts  was 
comparatively  free  from  danger.  On  the  whole,  the  cam- 
paign had  been  disadvantageous  to  the  Indians.  In  Plymouth 
a  large  number  of  them  surrendered.  Toward  midsummer, 
however,  Philip  was  heard  of,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  was 
proposing  to  attack  Taunton,  in  the  southern  part  of  eastern 
Massachusetts.  Strong  parties  were  sent  against  him.  and 
his  own  men  failed  to  support  him.  Church,  a  successful 
Indian  fighter,  pressed  him  close,  and  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
borhood of  Mount  Hope,  which  had  always  been  recognized 
as  Philip's  head-quarters,  the  king  met  his  fate.  A  friendly 
Indian,  who  had  been  named  Alderman,  was  stationed  with 
an  Englishman  at  a  point  where  it  was  thought  the  fugitives 
must  pass,  when  they  saw  Philip  running.  The  Englishman's 
gun  missed  fire  ;  the  Indian's  took  effect.  A  bullet  passed 
through  the  heart  of  the  chief  and  he  fell  dead  with  his  gun 
under  him.  Although  other  outrages  followed,  with  the  death 
of  Philip  the  war  came  substantially  to  a  close. 

The  contest  was  critical.     The  colonists  fought  for  their 


70  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

existence.  Almost  every  able-bodied  man  was  under  arms, 
and  it  has  been  estimated  that  one  tenth  of  their  soldiers  were 
killed.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  the  whole  struggle  their 
governments  made  no  appeal  to  England.  They  did  not  ask 
for  a  single  soldier,  nor  for  an  ounce  of  powder,  nor  for  an- 
other gun  beyond  what  they  had.  They  felt  it  was  their 
battle.  They  regarded  themselves  as  independent  of  the 
Crown,  and  they  wanted  none  ol  the  Crown's  assistance.  If 
they  must  succumb  without  its  aid,  they  would  succumb. 
This  proud  independence  was  observed  at  the  time,  and  is 
important  as  explaining  the  attitude  of  the  descendants  of  the 
same  men  in  another  century. 


HENRY  HUDSON.  ?I 


CHAPTER  VI. 

New  York,    1  609. 

United  Netherlands— Henry  Hudson's  Expedition— His  Return  to  Europe 
— Nahant  and  Block  Island — Purchase  of  Manhattan— System  of  Pa- 
troons — Contest  of  Flags  Between  the  Dutch  and  English — Removal 
of  Van  T wilier— Appointment  of  William  Keift— Increase  of  Emigra- 
tion— Trouble  with  the  Indians — War  Between  the  Iroquois  and  Al- 
gonquins — General  Treaty  of  the  Hostile  Tribes — Warlike  Move- 
ments of  Dutch  and  English. 

AT  the  end  of  a  long  war  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Spain, 
the  United  Netherlands  in  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  found  themselves  the  commercial  leaders  of  the 
world.  They  had  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  sailors  in  their 
service  and,  for  commerce  and  war,  a  fleet  of  three  thousand 
ships.  Under  the  Dutch  standard  navigators  and  explorers  of 
all  nations  might  sail  in  search  of  riches  and  for  discovery. 

Henry  Hudson  was  probably  a  native  of  London.  He 
was  a  friend  of  Captain  John  Smith,  and  other  adventurers  of 
the  time  whose  thoughts  turned  constantly  upon  new  routes  to 
India.  Under  the  direction  of  an  English  company,  he  had 
made  two  voyages  in  search  of  a  north-western  passage  across 
the  Northern  Ocean,  when  the  report  of  these  enterprises  in- 
duced the  directors  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  to 
send  for  him  to  come  to  Amsterdam.  In  January,  1609,  they 
signed  a  contract  to  furnish  him  with  a  small  vessel,  about 
three  hundred  dollars  for  his  expenses,  and  the  promise  of  a 
suitable  reward  should  he  find  a  practicable  passage. 

They  wanted  him  to  go  by  the  northern  shore  of  Asia,  and 
on  the  6th  of  April,  1609,  Hudson  started,  with  not  more  than 
twenty  men,  in  the  Half-Moon  along  the  cost  of  Norway  to- 
ward the  North  Cape  ;  but  then,  contrary  to  his  instructions, 


72  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

he  turned  his  ship  toward  the  American  coast,  and  after  sailing 
along  the  shore  near  Cape  Cod,  and  as  far  south  as  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  he  sailed  away  north  again,  and  on  the  2d  of 
September  came  to  anchor.  Here  he  saw  an  island  with  low 
hills,  and  what  they  thought  were  three  great  rivers.  Indians 
crowded  to  the  shore  and  put  off  in  canoes  to  welcome  them. 
Hudson  explored  the  wide  river,  hoping,  doubtless,  to  find  it 
the  longed-for  passage  to  the  South  Sea;  but,  persuaded  at 
last  that  it  was  only  a  stream  flowing  far  from  the  north,  he 
turned  about,  not  far  from  Albany,  and  descended  it  again. 
He  named  it  the  River  of  the  Mountains ;  but  since  then  it 
has  received  the  name  of  its  discoverer,  and  it  is  the  Hudson, 

He  sailed  away  at  once  and  returned  to  Europe,  expect- 
ing to  report  to  his  Dutch  employers.  But  the  English  gov- 
ernment, which  had  waked  up  to  the  fact  of  his  enterprise, 
refused  to  let  him  leave  the  country  (for  he  had  put  into  an 
English  port),  reminding  him  that  Englishmen  owed  their  serv- 
ices to  their  own  nation.  To  his  country  Hudson  sacrificed 
his  life,  for  in  an  English  voyage  a  year  afterward,  he  was  aban- 
doned by  his  ship's  crew  in  a  small  boat,  among  the  ice  fields 
of  the  great  bay  which  bears  his  name. 

Neverthelesss,  the  Half -Moon  found  its  way  to  Amsterdam 
and  a  few  Dutch  merchants  engaged  a  part  of  her  crew  to  go 
back  again  to  bring  them  furs  from  the  savages.  The  trade 
proved  highly  successful,  and  Manhattan  Island  became  the 
chief  station  for  the  little  Dutch  vessels  which  came  and  went 
up  and  down  the  river,  bargaining  with  the  Indians  for  good 
furs  in  exchange  for  beads,  knives  and  hatchets.  The  river 
at  first  was  called  Mauritius,  after  Maurice  of  Orange. 

The  Dutch  seamen  explored  the  neighborhood,  went  as  far 
along  the  coast  as  the  promontory  of  Nahant,  on  the  New 
England  shore,  and  left  their  traces  in  the  names  of  Block 
Island,  and  Cape  May.  A  trading  company  was  formed  which 
was  given  control  over  a  region  which  was  named  "New 
Netherland,"  which  included  the  sea-coast  between  40  and  50 
degrees.  The  profits  were  enormous  for  its  Amsterdam  pro- 
prietors.    It  established  friendly  relations  with  all  the  Indians 


MANHATTAN   AND    PLYMOUTH.  73 

it  met,  and  with  a  few  exceptions  lived  in  harmony  with  them 
without  seeking  to  establish  any  firm  footing  in  the  land. 

In  162 1  the  States  General  of  the  Netherlands  chartered 
the  great  West  India  Company,  which  formally  took  posses- 
sion of  New  Netherlands,  thus  superseding  the  work  of  smaller 
traders.  Early  in  March,  1623,  the  ship  New  Netherland 
sailed  from  Holland  carrying  the  first  colonists,  in  the  true 
meaning  of  the  word.  They  were  Walloons,  a  people  of  French 
origin,  who  have  lived  for  generations  in  the  Southern  Nether- 
lands. They  professed  the  reformed  religion,  and  being  per- 
secuted for  their  faith,  like  the  Puritans,  they  longed  for  a 
country  of  freedom  which  they  could  call  their  own. 

Three  of  their  governors  in  turn  managed  the  growing 
colony.  One  of  them,  Peter  Minuit,  bought  the  whole  Island 
of  Manhattan  from  the  Indians  for  about  twenty-five  dollars, 
and  all  the  chief  interests  of  New  Netherland  became  centered 
in  this  spot.  The  houses  of  the  colonists  were  only  cottages 
built  of  wood  and  bark.  There  was  one  stone  building 
thatched,  the  head-quarters  for  the  colony,  and  a  large  quad- 
rangular building  of  defense,  Fort  Amsterdam. 

In  1628  the  island  of  Manhattan  had  a  population  of  two 
hundred  and  seventy  colonists.  It  had  sent  friendly  greet- 
ings and  even  an  embassador  to  the  English  colony  at  Plym- 
outh,who  exchanged  congratulations  with  Governor  Bradford. 
This  dignitary  was  courteous  but  somewhat  stiff,  not  hesitat- 
ing to  say  that  he  thought  the  Dutch  had  no  right  to  the  land 
they  occupied.  There  was,  however,  no  serious  dispute,  and 
friendly  relations  continued  between  Manhattan  and  Plym- 
outh. 

The  prosperity  of  the  colony  was  greatly  endangered  by 
the  establishment  by  the  Amsterdam  Company  of  the  system 
of  "patroons" — large  landed  proprietors  with  almost  unlimit- 
ed powers,  protected  and  defended  by  the  company.  These 
proprietors  bought  from  the  Indians  and  took  possession  of 
large  tracts  of  land  which  they  ruled  like  absolute  lords,  and 
sought  also  so  large  a  share  in  the  profitable  trade  with  the 
Indians  that  the  whole  progress  of  the  colony  was  hindered. 


74  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

In  the  spring  of  1633  a  new  difficulty  arose.  Wouter  Van 
Twiller  was  the  new  director  of  the  colony  sent  out  from  the 
company  at  Amsterdam.  He  was  fat  and  fussy,  narrow  in 
perception,  and  quite  unfitted  for  his  post  ;  but  he  was  mar- 
ried to  a  Van  Rensselaer,  of  the  chief  family  of  the  patroons. 
Soon  after  he  arrived  an  English  vessel,  the  William,  en- 
tered the  harbor,  bringing  as  supercargo  one  Jacob  Elkins, 
who  had  been  there  before  as  commandant  of  Fort  Orange  in 
the  Dutch  company's  orders.  He  had  now  entered  the  En- 
glish service,  and  brought  his  new  masters  to  the  old  place  to 
show  them  the  rich  possessions  there. 

The  William  anchored  in  the  bay,  and  Director  Van  Twil- 
ler accepted  with  pleasure  the  polite  invitation  of  the  En- 
glish captain  to  dinner.  This  passed  off  pleasantly;  but  after- 
ward Elkins  announced  that  they  were  going  up  the  river  to 
trade  with  the  Indians  and  to  see  for  themselves,  as  he  boldly 
remarked,  "  the  land  that  belonged  to  the  English,"  since 
Hudson,  the  Englishman  had  discovered  it. 

Van  Twiller  was  greatly  excited  and  ran  up  and  down,  be- 
side himself.  He  caused  the  flag  of  Orange  to  be  raised  on 
the  fort  and  saluted  three  times,  whereupon  the  English  cap- 
tain ran  up  the  English  flag  on  board  the  William  and  had 
that  saluted  three  times,  after  which  he  weighed  his  anchor 
and  sailed  away  up  stream  before  the  eyes  of  the  director 
and  under  the  flag  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  Van  Twiller 
could  think  of  nothing  better  to  do  than  to  open  a  barrel  of 
wine  before  his  door  and  drink  bumper  after  bumper,  urging 
his  people  to  do  the  same  for  the  love  of  him  and  the  Prince 
of  Orange. 

After  hesitating  several  days  Van  Twiller  managed  to  send 
off  some  soldiers  from  the  fort  in  pursuit  of  Elkins,  who  com- 
pelled him  to  return,  and  the  William  was  then  ordered  to 
leave  the  harbor. 

On  her  return  to  England  the  owners  of  the  William  made 
complaint,  with  demand  for  damages,  since  the  object  of  its 
voyage  had  been  defeated  by  the  Dutch.  The  application 
was    denied  and  a  controversy  arose,  but   the    matter   was 


INDIAN   WAR.  75 

for  the  time  dismissed  by  the  Dutch  and  English  govern- 
ments. 

For  the  first  twenty  years  of  its  settlement  Manhattan  was 
little  else  than  a  mere  trading  post,  yet  it  increased  in  some 
degree.  The  incompetent  governor,  Van  Twiller,  grew  more 
and  more  imbecile  in  his  management  of  public  affairs,  al- 
though with  all  his  imbecility  he  managed  himself  to  grow 
rich.  In  1637  he  was  removed  and  his  successor  appointed, 
William  Kieft,  of  Amsterdam.  This  was  no  great  improve- 
ment; for  he  came  with  a  bad  reputation  for  honesty,  though 
a  good  one  for  skill  in  the  management  of  his  own  affairs. 

The  chamber  at  Amsterdam  in  1638  for  the  first  time 
opened  the  New  Netherland  trade  to  competition,  virtually 
free,  which  greatly  increased  emigration.  Ship  after  ship 
brought  colonists,  people  of  all  conditions,  who  had  suddenly 
come  to  regard  the  new  country  as  a  land  of  promise.  From 
the  other  colonies  also  came  recruits.  Many  came  from  Vir- 
ginia, bringing  with  them  cherry  and  peach  trees  and  their 
better  method  of  tobacco  culture.  Prosperity  c&me  with  the 
new-comers  and  showed  them  to  be  a  better  class  of  people 
than  their  predecessors.  Healthy  and  rapid  progress  was 
now  to  be  looked  for. 

But  a  terrible  calamity  was  about  to  check  this  prosperity. 
The  Dutch  had  hitherto  treated  the  Indians  with  wisdom  and 
justice,  but  the  management  of  Kieft's  administration  was 
different.  Guns  and  ammunition  had  been  unwisely  sold  to 
the  natives,  and  when  quarrels  arose  these  were  used  against 
the  settlers.  In  return  for  attacks  by  the  Raritans  upon  a 
settlement  Kieft  offered  a  bounty  for  every  head  of  a  Raritan 
Indian  that  should  be  brought  to  him. 

About  the  same  time  the  Indians  of  Connecticut  were 
roused  against  English  and  Dutch  alike,  and  every-where 
arose  the  dread  of  a  general  Indian  war. 

A  war  among  the  savages  themselves  was  the  beginning. 
The  Indians  who  inhabited  the  Atlantic  slope  and  the  basin 
of  the  lakes  were  divided  into  two  great  families — the  Iroquois 
and    the  Algonquins.     Among   all   the    Indians  of  the  New 


—  % 


y6  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

World  there  were  none  so  politic  and  intelligent,  so  fierce  and 
brave,  as  the  true  Iroquois,  the  people  of  the  Five  Nations  of 
New  York.  They  were  a  terror  to  all  the  surrounding  tribes; 
their  speech  and  lineage  were  different  from  that  of  the  Algon- 
quins,  to  whom  belonged  the  tribes  of  river  Indians  who 
lived  along  the  Hudson,  and  the  Narragansetts  and  other  New 
England  tribes.  These  latter  tribes  all  trembled  at  the  name 
of  Mohawk,  the  eastern  tribe  of  the  Five  Nations,  and  paid 
them  tribute. 

These  were  the  enemies  who  came  sweeping  down  upon  the 
Algonquins,  armed  with  guns  the  Dutch  had  furnished. 
Without  resistance  these  southern  Indians  fled  through  the 
woods,  seeking  refuge  with  the  white  men,  although  they 
themselves  had  been  lately  hostile.  Humanity  urged  that 
they  should  find  protection,  but  Kieft,  and  those  who  shared 
his  views,  resolved  to  attack  them.  A  frightful  massacre  en- 
sued of  the  defenseless  Indians  fleeing  before  another  enemy 
of  their  own  hue. 

The  results,  though  terrible,  were  but  natural.  The  Algon- 
quin people  every-where  rose  against  the  whites.  Every 
swamp  and  wood  in  the  country  seemed  to  swarm  with  en- 
raged savages.  A  short  peace  was  followed  by  renewed  hos- 
tilities. A  band  of  savages  attacked  the  little  house  of  Anne 
Hutchinson,  near  New  Rochelle,  and  she  and  her  whole 
family  were  murdered,  except  one  granddaughter,  who  was 
carried  away  captive.  The  people  naturally  attributed  these 
misfortunes  to  Kieft,  for  although  proclamation  was  made  for 
a  solemn  fast  in  acknowledgment  that  it  was  "  owing  to  their 
sins,"  they  all  accused  the  director,  and  not  themselves.  The 
terror  lasted  through  a  long  winter,  savages  lurking  every- 
where, houses  in  flames,  women  and  children  starving,  the 
Indians  every-where  keeping  away  from  bodies  of  organized 
troops,  so  that  resistance  availed  but  little. 

In  the  beginning  of  1644  two  Indian  villages  were  surprised 
and  sacked.  Other  successes  followed,  and  at  last  a  decisive 
blow  was  struck  in  Connecticut  which  silenced  the  eastern 
tribes.     In    another   year  the    Indians   themselves  began  to 


ENGLISH   POLICY.  77 

show  a  wish  for  peace,  and  on  the  30th  of  August,  1645,  tne 
citizens  of  New  Amsterdam  assembled  on  the  ground  now 
known  as  the  Battery,  witnessed  the  smoking  of  the  pipe  of 
peace,  and  the  conclusion  of  a  general  treaty  of  all  the  hos- 
tile tribes. 

On  the  6th  day  of  September  New  Netherland  held  a  day 
of  thanksgiving  for  the  ending  of  the  long  and  terrible  Indian 
war.  Sixteen  hundred  savages  had  been  killed;  but  there 
was  not  a  single  Dutch  settlement  that  had  not  been  attacked 
and  almost  always  destroyed. 

Now,  however,  in  spite  of  the  check  the  country  had  re- 
ceived, courage  began  to  revive,  houses  were  rebuilt,  and 
lands  cultivated  once  more.  Best  of  all,  the  origin  of  all 
their  misfortunes,  Kieft,  the  director,  was,  after  a  second 
urgent  appeal,  recalled  by  the  company  at  home.  His  suc- 
cessor was  appointed,  and  the  anxious  colonists  of  Manhattan 
were  greatly  encouraged. 

The  Dutch  had  settled  along  the  river  banks  rather  than 
along  the  sea-shore,  chiefly  because  it  was  more  convenient 
for  the  Indian  trade.  Thus  by  a  glance  at  the  map  we  may 
see  that  the  English  settlements  in  New  England  and  those 
in  Maryland,  Virginia  and  Carolina  were  separated  by  the 
two  lines  of  Dutch  settlements  on  the  Hudson  and  the  Dela- 
ware. It  was  not  unnatural  that  the  English  authorities 
should  have  felt  that  some  time  or  other  New  Netherland 
must  come  into  their  hands  if  their  American  colonies  were 
to  be  what  they  desired.  The  colonists  themselves  in  a 
measure  desired  the  same  thing,  for  though  there  had  been  no 
open  rupture  with  the  Dutch  there  had  been  not  infrequent 
disputes.  There  was  no  particular  ground,  however,  on 
which  the  English  could  claim  the  territory  save  that  of 
prior  discovery.  But  this  objection  weighed  but  little  with 
Charles  II.,  and  in  1664,  in  time  of  peace,  Colonel  Nicolls 
and  certain  other  commissioners  left  England  charged  with 
various  duties,  and,  among  other  things,  directed  to  assert 
the  English  claim  of  possession  on  account  of  discovery  by 
the  Cabots.     These  commissioners  had  with  them  a  force  of 


78  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

nearly  five  hundred  men,  and  they  were  ordered  to  recruit 
more  in  New  England.  The  Massachusetts  men  refused  to 
have  any  thing  to  do  with  the  business  (for  the  commission- 
ers had  other  and  unpopular  business  with  the  colonists  of 
the  bay);  but  the  Connecticut  men  were  not  unwilling  to 
march  against  the  Dutch,  whom  they  had  never  considered 
very  pleasing  neighbors.  In  August,  1664,  the  English  fleet 
appeared  before  New  Amsterdam.  Stuyvesant  the  wooden- 
legged  was  in  command  of  the  town;  but  the  place  was  in  no 
condition  for  defense.  There  were  no  walls  to  defend,  no 
men  to  defend  them,  and  no  arms  or  ammunition  to  defend 
them  with.  In  other  words,  the  place  was  very  weakly  forti- 
fied. Stuyvesant,  however,  was  plucky  enough  for  any  thing, 
and  resolved  to  try  to  defend  his  trust.  He  received  a  letter 
from  Colonel  Nicolls,  the  English  commander,  but  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  proposition  and  tore  the  paper 
up.  But  the  people  of  the  town,  thinking  that  something  was 
going  on,  gathered  together  the  pieces  and  read  them.  Then, 
on  hearing  the  terms  which  Nicolls  offered,  they  begged  Stuy- 
vesant to  surrender.  But  Sutyvesant  stumped  about  and 
swore  that  he  would  defend  the  place  to  the  last.  He  was, 
however,  the  only  man  of  that  opinion,  and  finding  out  that 
he  was  utterly  deserted  he  submitted  to  the  terms  offered. 
He  marched  out  with  the  garrison  with  the  honors  of  war  and 
the  English  took  possession.  The  other  towns  followed  the 
example,  and  the  conquest  of  the  New  Netherland  was  com- 
plete. The  towns  on  the  Delaware  also  surrendered,  and  the 
country  afterward  known  as  "  The  Jerseys  "  was  made  over 
to  Berkeley  and  Carteret  and  a  new  company.  The  name  of 
the  province  was  changed  to  New  York  and  the  name  of  the 
town  also;  for  to  James,  Duke  of  York,  afterward  King  of 
England,  was  the  province  all  granted  by  Charles  II.,  to  whom 
power  was  given  to  make  laws  and  in  all  ways  to  look  to  the 
good  of  the  colonists.  Nicolls  was  the  first  governor,  succeed- 
ed shortly  by  Lovelace.  This  last  was  governor  in  1672,  when 
war  broke  out  between  England  and  Holland,  in  which  year 
a  Dutch  fleet  appeared  before  New  York  and  captured   the 


ENGLISH   COLONIES.  79 

place  as  easily  as  the  English  had  done  eight  years  be- 
fore. The  name  was  changed  again,  this  time  to  Orange,  in 
honor  of  William  of  Orange,  the  stadtholder.  The  Dutch, 
however,  only  held  the  province  through  the  war,  and  at  the 
peace  it  was  given  back  to  England. 

It  formed  the  necessary  connecting  link  between  New  En- 
gland and  the  southern  colonies.  Without  New  York  the 
colonies  could  never  have  united;  could  never  have  grown 
strong  enough  to  shake  off  their  allegiance  to  the  mother 
country.  But  all  this  was  then  in  the  future.  Probably 
there  was  no  thought  in  England  or  the  colonies  save  rejoic- 
ing at  the  appropriation  of  New  York.  The  Duke  of  York 
again  took  charge  of  it,  and  named  as  governor  Sir  Edmund 
Andros,  a  man  of  some  name  in  American  history,  of  whom 
we  shall  hear  again. 


80  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Government  of   New  England  Changed. 

The  Restoration  of  Charles  II. — His  Demands  on  Massachusetts — Terms 
With  Other  Colonies — A  Commission  Sent  to  New  England — It  Ar- 
rives at  New  York — Passes  to  Boston — The  General  Court  Meets — 
Controversy  With  the  Commission — Yictory  of  the  General  Court — 
Decline  of  the  Puritan  Spirit — Its  Causes — Its  Progress — The  Years 
Following  the  Commission — Maine  and  New  Hampshire — Mason's 
Claim  and  that  of  Gorges — The  Massachusetts  Charter  Declared 
Null  and  Void — The  Controversy  Ends  by  the  Failure  of  the  Col- 
onists— James  II. 's  Plan — Sir  Edmund  Andros — His  Success  at  First 
— Popular  Rising — Andros  Imprisoned — William  and  Mary  Pro- 
claimed. 


T 


HE  restoration  of  Charles  II.  was  looked  upon  by  the 
men  of  New  England  with  some  apprehensions.  Nev- 
ertheless the  two  houses  of  the  Massachusetts  General  Court 
drew  up  addresses  which  were  forwarded  to  the  king,  who 
returned  an  answer  couched  in  general  terms  but  not  unfavor- 
able. But  although  nothing  was  at  this  time  done,  it  was 
evident  that  a  change  in  the  management  of  colonial  affairs 
was  to  take  place.  The  king  was  formally  proclaimed  by  all 
the  colonies  in  the  summer  of  1660.  At  the  same  time  Mas- 
sachusetts drew  up  a  sort  of  bill  of  rights  and  duties  in  which 
the  colony  clearly  stated  its  position.  She  also  resolved  to 
send  agents  to  England  to  present  that  position  to  the  king. 
Bradstreet  and  Norton  were  graciously  received  by  Charles, 
and  returned  with  a  royal  letter  in  which  he  promised  to 
respect  their  charter,  but  made  certain  demands  which  were 
the  subjects  of  discussion  for  the  ensuing  years.  In  the  first 
place  it  was  commanded  that  the  franchise  should  not  be  con- 
fined to  church  members.  Next,  the  episcopal  form  of  wor- 
ship should  be  allowed.     The  colonists  were  also  required  to 


CHARLES'S    COMMISSION.  8 1 

take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  it  was  lastly  demanded  that 
justice  should  be  administered  in  the  name  of  the  king.  The 
colonists  felt  that  their  liberty  was  gone  if  they  granted  these 
demands. 

The  other  colonies  were,  on  the  whole,  gainers  by  the  Res- 
toration. Rhode  Island  received  a  royal  charter.  So  also 
Connecticut,  to  which  New  Haven,  was  joined,  not  without 
much  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  smaller  colony.  The 
union  was  finally  acceded  to  only  with  the  fear  that  worse 
would  befall  them. 

It  was  finally  decided  in  England  to  send  a  commission 
to  regulate  affairs  in  New  England  and  New  York.  The 
four  commissioners,  Nicolls,  Cartwright,  Carr  and  Maverick, 
arrived  in  the  country  in  July,  1664.  Their  object  was 
twofold.  They  wrere,  first,  to  assert  the  claim  of  England 
to  New  Netherland  and  to  demand  of  the  New  England 
colonies  assistance  in  enforcing  that  claim ;  and,  second, 
they  were  to  see  to  the  state  of  things  in  the  New  England 
colonies  and  to  provide  for  the  "  settling  the  peace  and 
security  of  the  said  country  according  to  their  good  and 
sound  discretions."  That  is  to  say,  in  other  words  (as  was 
put  forward  in  certain  private  instructions  received  by  them), 
they  were  to  see  how  the  colonies  stood  with  respect  to  the 
king  ;  to  see  whether  there  was  any  ground  for  questioning 
their  charters,  and  to  proceed  in  every  way  that  they  might 
think  best,  toward  the  further  establishing  of  the  king's  au- 
thority in  those  parts. 

The  commissioners  set  to  work  first  in  regard  to  New 
Netherland,  and  having  demanded  and  obtained  assistance 
from  Connecticut,  they  departed  for  the  island  of  "  Man- 
hadoes,"  as  it  was  called,  with  the  success  already  narrated. 
On  their  return  (Nicolls  remaining  in  New  York,  of  which 
he  had  been  appointed  the  governor)  the  other  three  devoted 
themselves  to  prosecuting  their  duties,  as  far  as  regarded  the 
colonies  of  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  reserv- 
ing Massachusetts  to  the  end,  as  probably  more  contumacious. 
And  in  these  colonies  they  met,  on  the  whole,   with   success, 


82  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

their  demands  being  quietly  acceded  to,  though  in  some  cases 
subsequently  ignored.  In  May,  1665,  they  all  four  met  in 
Boston  to  consider  what  might  best  be  done  with  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Colony. 

It  being  about  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  General 
Court  the  commissioners  presented  certain  papers  to  such 
of  the  magistrates  and  deputies  as  had  already  assembled, 
setting  forth  their  instructions  ;  recapitulating  the  results  of 
the  New  Netherland  expedition,  complaining  that  the  king's 
letter,  by  them  already  transmitted,  had  not  been  made  public, 
desiring  a  map  whereby  they  might  settle  the  boundaries  of 
the  colonies  as  they  had  been  ordered,  and  in  a  general  way 
stating  their  position. 

At  the  election  the  next  day  Bellingham  was  elected  gov- 
ernor, and,  the  General  Court  meeting,  about  seventy  were 
admitted  freemen  who  were  not  church  members,  contrary  to 
the  usual  practice.  Communications  now  were  opened  be- 
tween the  commissioners  and  the  court.  But  the  court  would 
not  agree  to  any  thing  that  could  satisfy  the  commissioners. 
Nor  could  the  commissioners  be  satisfied  with  the  manner  in 
which  the  previous  demands  of  the  king  had  been  acceded 
to.  The  communications  resulted  in  nothing  at  all.  Another 
proceeding,  however,  was  of  more  importance.  The  com- 
missioners took  upon  themselves,  in  accordance  with  their 
instructions,  to  declare  their  readiness  to  hear  a  certain  case 
in  which  appeal  was  made  from  the  judgment  of  the  colony. 
The  General  Court  protested  against  such  a  proceeding,  for 
the  commissioners  proposed  to  hold  the  trial  without  a  jury. 
The  commissioners,  however,  insisted,  and  set  an  hour  for  the 
hearing.  At  the  hour  appointed  a  messenger  from  the  Gen- 
eral Court  appeared  and  forbade  the  people  "  in  his  majesty's 
name  and  by  the  authority  of  his  royal  charter,"  to  countenance, 
or  abet,  or  consent  to  any  such  proceedings.  The  commis- 
sioners did  not  insist;  they  saw  that  the  colony  was  stubborn 
and  that  their  proceedings  were  of  no  avail,  and,  witli  a  pro- 
test, they  left  the  town.  They  proceeded  to  the  north,  where 
they  attempted  disturbances  in  the  settlements  on  the  New 


DECLINE   OF   PURITANISM.  83 

Hampshire  and  Maine  coast,  as  will  be  elsewhere  recorded. 
Then  they  dispersed  ;  Nicolls  and  Maverick  going  to  New 
York,  and  Carr  to  Delaware,  where  he  had  private  interests, 
while  Cartwright  returned  to  England  with  the  report  of  the 
commissioners. 

Although  it  would  at  first  seem  as  though  the  visit  of  the 
royal  commissioners  had  ended  in  a  victory  for  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony,  on  looking  upon  events  with  reference  to 
subsequent  history,  it  seems  as  though  from  this  point  we 
must  date  the  beginning  of  the  downfall  of  that  high  ideal 
government,  which  had  existed  in  the  minds  of  the  founders 
of  Massachusetts,  and  had  been  partially  carried  out  by  the 
settlement  of  that  Commonwealth.  From  this  point  we  must 
date  the  beginning  of  that  determined  attack  by  the  Stuart 
kings  which  finally  robbed  Massachusetts  of  so  much  of 
the  freedom  she  had  now  for  almost  forty  years  enjoyed. 
From  this  point  we  may  also  date  the  beginning  of  that  weak- 
ening of  the  Puritan  spirit  which  finally,  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  disappeared  before  the  new  spirit  which  may  be 
called  the  Revolutionary  idea. 

The  principal  causes  of  this  decline  are  not  difficult  to 
note.  In  the  first  place  the  old  generation  was  passing 
away.  Winthrop,  Dudley,  Endicott  and  many  more  of  those 
great  men  who  had  conceived  the  principles  of  the  ideal 
Puritan  Commonwealth  were  by  this  time  dead.  Such  ideals 
are  not  created  in  every  generation.  The  events  of  the  earlier 
years  of  the  century  were  such  as  to  call  forward  the  highest 
and  noblest  qualities  of  the  Englishmen  of  that  day.  Their 
immediate  descendants  could  do  little  more  than  to  endeavor 
to  preserve  the  ideals  of  the  fathers.  And  even  this  pres- 
ervation in  the  case  of  New  England  was  by  no  means  easy. 
It  was  not  as  though  Massachusetts  were  guarded  round  about, 
so  that  no  one  could  obtain  entrance  thereto  save  the  Puritans. 
As  the  colony  grew  in  strength  and  prosperity,  the  number 
of  those  who  had  no  stake  in  the  colony  save  a  material  one 
became  largely  augmented,  and  the  growth  of  this  material 
spirit  was  one  of  the  causes  of  the   decline  of  the  Puritan 


84  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

ideal.  But  more  important  than  either  of  these  was  the  fact 
that  the  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate  in  England  were 
now  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  that  a  Stuart  was  once  more  on 
the  throne.  Charles  II.  and  his  brother,  James  II.,  were  not 
men  to  see  with  complacency  the  growth  of  this  Common- 
wealth in  New  England.  The  bent  of  their  minds  led  them 
to  think,  naturally,  of  repressing  it.  Nor  were  there  lacking 
those  who  should  encourage  such  ideas.  There  were  many 
in  England  who  looked  to  America  as  a  means  of  repairing 
fortunes  broken  by  the  Civil  War.  There  were  many  who, 
through  the  strictness  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  had  many 
a  grievance  against  the  Puritan  Commonwealth.  So  there 
were  by  no  means  wanting  those  whom  personal  interest  en- 
couraged to  stand  by  the  side  of  their  lord,  the  king,  and 
say  daily  to  him,   "My  lord,  remember  the  Athenians." 

We  shall  see  in  the  next  few  pages  the  manner  in  which 
the  decline  proceeded.  The  commercial  and  geographical 
increase  of  strength  was,  as  we  have  seen,  turned  against  the 
Puritan  spirit.  The  strengthening  of  the  colony  in  relation 
to  the  Indians,  both  in  war  and  in  religion,  was  of  no  avail. 
The  colony  was  no  longer  allowed  to  strengthen  herself  in- 
ternally by  casting  forth  dissentients  and  keeping  out  intrud- 
ers. She  was  forced  to  take  to  herself  those  who  had  little 
sympathy  with  her  spirit.  The  franchise  was  to  be  no  longer 
confined  to  church  members,  and  the  strictness  of  the  prim- 
itive Puritan  worship  was  to  be  broken  in  upon  by  the  tolera- 
tion of  other  sects.  And,  lastly,  the  virtual  independence  of 
the  colony  in  regard  to  England  was  destroyed,  and  the  prerog- 
ative of  the  king  was  vigorously  asserted  in  many  ways,  revers- 
ing the  Puritan  idea  that  the  law  of  God  was  to  be  preferred 
to  that  of  the  king,  and  enforcing  with  vigor  a  very  different 
state   of  things. 

For  ten  years  after  the  visit  of  the  royal  commissioners  affairs 
went  on  in  Massachusetts  without  the  slightest  connection 
with  England.  Nor  did  England  prosecute  her  attempts 
upon  her  colony.  There  is  nothing  to  chronicle  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  dispute  between  the  two  countries;  for  scarcely 


EDWARD   RANDOLPH.  85 

any  political  connection  existed.  There  was  no  rumor  of 
English  encroachment  on  the  New  England  colonies  beyond 
the  demand  of  Andros,  who  had  been  made  Governor  of 
New  York,  on  the  colony  of  Connecticut  for  a  portion  of  her 
territory  as  belonging  to  his  master,  the  Duke  of  York. 

Maine  and  New  Hampshire  had  not  been  included  in  the 
charter  of  Massachusetts  ;  both  had  come  in  a  manner  under 
her  rule.  The  four  towns  on  the  Piscataqua,  "  in  the  patent 
of  New  Hampshire,"  were  in  1641  taken  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Bay  Colony  at  their  own  request.  And  that  juris- 
diction had  been  pressed  farther  along  the  coast  of  Maine, 
where  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  had  conflicting  claims  as  pro- 
prietor. The  visit  of  the  royal  commissioners  into  those 
parts  had  been  for  the  purpose  of  stirring  up  disaffection  for 
the  Massachusetts  government,  whereby  there  might  be 
ground  for  complaint  against  the  colony  in  England.  But  at 
that  time  there  had  been  but  little  success  in  that  direction. 

Ten  years  afterward,  however,  in  England  the  claims  of 
Mason  and  of  Gorges  were  both  revived,  and  memorials  were 
offered  to  the  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  to  whose 
charge  colonial  matters  were  delegated.  Complaint  was  also 
made,  by  the  London  merchants  and  others,  of  the  violation 
of  the  navigation  laws,  to  which  Massachusetts,  as  well  as 
Virginia,  had  been  subject;  and,  as  it  seemed  a  favorable 
opportunity,  it  was  resolved  to  bring  up  once  more  the  case 
against  Massachusetts  and  to  endeavor  again  to  assert  the  king's 
authority  there  in  a  manner  more  suitable  to  his  prerogative 
than  that  which  now  obtained.  A  letter  was  written  to  the 
colony  and  sent  by  the  hand  of  one  Edward  Randolph.  This 
man  proved  himself  in  the  course  of  the  next  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years  the  persistent  enemy  of  the  colony.  On  this  ex- 
cursion he  did  his  business,  but  met  with  little  success;  for 
the  letter  was  written  in  a  mild  spirit  and  the  colony  hardly 
saw  fit  to  mend  its  ways.  Randolph  complained  of  the  in- 
fraction of  the  navigation  laws,  and  was  in  return  told  by 
Governor  Leverett,  an  old  Parliamentary  soldier,  that  by  their 
charter  they  made  their  own  laws,  and  that  the  laws  of  Par- 


86  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED    STATES. 

liament  did  not  concern  them.  The  colony  sent  two  agents 
back  to  England  with  an  address  for  King  Charles,  but  did 
nothing  in  the  way  of  changing  their  customs. 

The  story  of  the  consequent  proceedings  is  too  long  to  enter 
upon  in  detail.  As  time  passed  on  the  king  became  more 
and  more  determined,  and  the  colony  was  forced  to  a  measure 
of  compliance.  One  by  one  the  points  demanded  were  given 
up,  but  grudgingly,  and  one  at  a  time  did  Massachusetts  sur- 
render her  old  independent  laws.  New  Hampshire  was  taken 
from  her  by  a  decision  of  the  crown  lawyers,  but  she  succeeded 
in  retaining  Maine  by  a  composition  with  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges.  At  this  time,  in  the  colony,  there  was  no  longer  the 
unbroken  front  which  had  been  shown  to  previous  encroach- 
ments of  England.  Among  the  descendants  of  the  founders 
of  the  colony  there  were  some  who  were  scarcely  worthy  of 
their  distinguished  fathers.  There  were  left  many  who  were 
ready  steadfastly  to  maintain  the  liberties  of  Massachusetts  as 
granted  in  the  charter,  but  there  was  also  a  small  party  of 
those  who  held  for  the  king,  and  also  a  larger  party  of  those 
who  preferred  submission  in  time,  hoping  thereby  to  gain 
more  than  they  could  hope  for  if  an  open  breach  took  place. 
Yet  the  colony,  though  crippled  in  this  manner,  would  not 
accede  to  all  the  demands  of  the  crown,  and  finally  it  seemed 
evident  to  the  king  that  extreme  measures  must  be  taken. 
It  was  determined  to  begin  legal  proceedings  to  see  whether 
the  Puritans  had  not  exceeded  their  lawful  powers  in  the  inter- 
pretation and  execution  of  their  patent.  A  writ  of  quo  war- 
ranto was  issued  June  27,  1683,  and  the  colony  was  sum- 
moned to  show  cause  why  the  charter  should  not  be  declared 
null  and  void.  No  defense  was  attempted,  and  sixteen 
months  later  a  decree  was  entered  vacating  the  charter. 

The  government  of  Massachusetts  had  now  no  legal  stand- 
ing. The  right  over  the  country  reverted  to  the  crown,  in 
which  it  had  resided  when  the  charter  had  just  issued.  The 
long  struggle  between  the  colony  and  the  crown  had  ended, 
and  the  Massachusetts  men  were  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the 
king,  to  be  treated  as  he   saw   fit.      At  first,  however,  no 


EDMUND  ANDROS.  87 

change  was  made,  and  the  old  government  was  temporarily- 
continued. 

Charles  II.  died  after  a  few  months,  and  his  brother,  James 
II.,  succeeding  him,  at  first  continued  the  old  form  of  govern- 
ment for  the  time  and  subsequently  joined  Massachusetts, 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire  into  one  province,  for  the  ruling 
of  which  he  appointed  a  council,  Randolph  being  a  member, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  placed  as  president  Joseph  Dudley, 
the  son  of  Thomas  Dudley,  the  second  governor  of  the  colony. 
The  difference  between  this  man  and  his  father  shows  us  how 
the  general  character  of  the  Puritan  colony  had  declined. 
Thomas  Dudley  may  represent  the  men  of  the  days  of  the 
settlement  of  the  country,  the  sturdy  Puritans,  with  their 
firm  ideas  about  God  and  government.  Joseph  Dudley  cared 
more  for  the  favor  of  the  English  court  than  he  did  about  the 
liberties  of  his  own  country.    The  contrast  is  most  instructive. 

There  are  few  events  during  the  presidency  of  Dudley. 
Every  body  was  waiting  to  see  what  would  come  next.  Con- 
necticut and  Rhode  Island  feared  that  their  charters  were  to 
be  taken  from  them.  In  Massachusetts,  men  waited  to  see 
what  would  come  next.  The  government  was  by  no  means 
utterly  subservient.  Randolph  met  with  much  difficulty  in 
carrying  out  his  duties  as  collector  of  customs,  and  the  little 
Episcopal  Church  which  was  immediately  formed  found  it 
hard  to  find  a  place  for  worship.  The  presidency  was  but  a 
temporary  expedient  and  satisfied  no  one. 

It  was  the  idea  of  James  II.  to  unite  all  the  northern  col- 
onies under  one  government;  for,  as  is  easily  seen,  he  would 
thereby  have  more  control  over  his  foreign  possessions.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  1 686,  as  had  been  expected,  the  charter  of  Con- 
necticut was  annulled,  and  the  next  year  that  of  Rhode  Island 
was  delivered  up.  In  1686  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  who  had 
been  governor  of  New  York,  was  made  governor  of  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,*  and  was  sent 
to  America  with  orders  to  join  Connecticut  to  the  other  col- 

*  It  must  be  recollected  that  Plymouth  never  had  a  charter. 


88  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

onies  under  him.  It  was  part  of  the  plan  to  join  New  York 
also,  so  that  all  the  northern  colonies  should  be  under  the 
rule  of  one  man,  and  he  one  who  might  be  depended  on  to 
carry  out  the  king's  will. 

Andros  was  such  a  man.  As  soon  as  he  had  established 
himself  at  Boston  he  set  to  work  at  once  to  create  such  a 
manner  of  government  as  would  be  to  the  mind  of  his  master. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  his  proceedings  were  distasteful 
to  the  colonists.  Among  his  earliest  acts  were  some  espe- 
cially displeasing  to  the  inhabitants  in  regard  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  service  of  the  Anglican  Church.  A  congregation 
had  been  gathered,  but,  being  refused  the  use  of  any  of  the 
meeting-houses,  it  had  worshiped  in  a  room  in  the  town- 
house.  Andros  was  by  no  means  satisfied.  He  sent  for  the 
ministers  and  demanded  that  an  arrangement  should  be  made 
whereby  the  Episcopal  Church  might  meet  in  one  of  the 
Puritan  meeting-houses.  The  ministers  answered  that  their 
consciences  could  by  no  means  permit  this.  Andros  did  not 
insist  at  the  time,  but  later,  on  Good  Friday,  he  sent  to  de- 
mand the  keys  of  the  Old  South  Meeting-house,  that  it 
might  be  used  for  divine  worship.  The  request  was  refused, 
but  he  managed,  through  the  sexton,  to  obtain  entrance  into 
the  building,  and  henceforth  services  were  held  there  regu- 
larly at  such  times  on  Sunday  as  it  was  not  required  by  the 
regular  congregation.  Another  proceeding  of  the  new  gov- 
ernor's, and  one  which  the  inhabitants  justly  looked  upon  as 
most  dangerous,  was  in  regard  to  arbitrary  impositions  of  taxes; 
for,  there  being  no  general  court,  the  taxes  were  laid  by  the 
governor  and  council.  Several  towns  refused  to  elect  the 
officers  who  should  collect  them,  and  were  at  once  severely 
taken  order  with,  their  principal  men  being  tried  and  heavily 
fined.  Another  arbitrary  act  of  the  governor's  was  concern- 
ing land  tenures.  All  tenure  of  land,  he  held,  had  depended 
on  the  old  charter.  This  being  vacated  he  held  that  all  right 
in  the  soil  had  returned  to  the  crown,  and  he  therefore  forced 
all  persons  who  desired  valid  title  to  obtain  it  of  him;  and 
this  confirmation  of  old  deeds  was  rendered  a  very  expensive 


REVOLUTION.  89 

affair.  In  fact,  all  administration  of  justice  was  rendered 
particularly  difficult  and  expensive  in  many  ways,  both  by 
extortionate  fees,  by  ordering  all  records  to  be  kept  at  Boston, 
by  not  printing  the  laws,  and  by  various  other  ways,  all 
which  served  to  stir  up  the  people. 

Early  in  the  year  1689  the  governor  returned  from  an  ex- 
pedition into  Maine.  He  had  so  far  succeeded  well  in  carry- 
ing out  the  orders  of  his  master.  He  had  journeyed  into 
Plymouth  and  Connecticut  and  had  established  his  rule  there 
firmly.  The  latter  colony  had  been  deprived  of  its  charter, 
and  Rhode  Island  had  been  forced  to  deliver  up  hers.  New 
York  had  been  added  to  the  Dominion  of  New  England,  and 
every-where  the  arbitrary  government  which  he  had  been 
bidden  to  set  up  had  seemed  to  succeed  well. 

In  March,  1689,  news  arrived  of  the  landing  in  England  of 
the  Prince  of  Orange.  It  was  nothing  but  a  rumor,  and  no 
one  could  say  what  would  be  his  success  or  how  the  venture 
might  turn  out.  But  it  was  sufficient  encouragement  for  the 
inhabitants  of  Massachusetts,  so  goaded  by  the  tyranny  of 
Andros,  that  they  were  ready  for  very  desperate  measures. 
The  principal  men  of  the  colony  seem  to  have  been  in  con- 
ference already.  On  the  1 8th  of  April  a  revolution  was  effected. 
The  beacon  on  Beacon  Hill  was  lighted,  the  people  met, 
and  the  captain  of  the  frigate  in  the  harbor  was  arrested. 
Andros  was  in  the  fort  on  Fort  Hill.  Later  in  the  morning  a 
number  of  the  principal  men  of  the  colony,  with  a  company 
of  militia,  entered  the  town-house.  Randolph  and  many  of 
the  government  were  arrested  and  put  in  jail.  The  jailer 
was  put  there  too,  and  all  were  watched  over  by  one  Scates, 
a  bricklayer. 

The  gentlemen  deliberating  in  the  town-house  drew  up  a 
statement  of  their  case  and  read  it  to  the  crowd  assembled 
before  the  building.  Word  was  sent  to  order  Andros  to  sur- 
render under  threat  of  an  assault  of  the  fort.  He  was  taken 
and  lodged  in  a  private  house,  and  many  with  him  were  put  in 
the  jail.  The  next  day  the  castle  was  seized  and  the  frigate 
in  the  harbor.     The  Andros  government  was  at  an  end.     A 


90  HISTORY    OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 

provisional  government  was  adopted  under  the  style  of  the 
"  Council  for  the  Safety  of  the  People."  Bradstreet,  the  last 
governor  under  the  old  charter,  was  elected  their  president. 
By  them  a  convention  was  summoned  of  delegates  from  the 
various  towns,  by  whom  it  was  decided  that  the  old  charter 
should  be  revised,  and  that  those  who  had  held  office  under 
it  should  provisionally  resume  those  offices  until  a  permanent 
government  should  be  arranged.  At  about  this  time  a  ship 
arrived  from  England  with  orders  to  proclaim  William  and 
Mary.  The  colony  obeyed  with  very  great  joy;  there  was  a 
great  parade  in  Boston  and  a  great  dinner  at  the  town-house, 
and  the  day  was  passed  with  great  acclamation  and  thanks- 
giving. 

With  even  more  ease  was  the  revolution  consummated  in 
the  other  colonies;  for  in  most  of  them  there  was  no  one  to 
make  resistance.  In  Plymouth  the  old  government  was  set  up 
when  news  came  of  what  had  been  done  in  Boston.  So  also 
in  Connecticut.  In  each  elections  were  held  for  the  General 
Court,  and  the  governor  and  magistrates  who  had  been  in 
office  under  the  old  system  were  temporarily  confirmed  in 
those  positions. 


THE  CAROLINAS  AND   VIRGINIA.  91 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Carolinas  and  Virginia— 1  680-1700. 

Early  History  of  the  Carolinas — The  Coast  at  First  Neglected — Charles  II. 's 
Charter — Locke's  Fundamentals—  They  Are  Never  Put  in  Force — Vir- 
ginia Without  a  Governor — Sir  William  Berkeley  Appointed — Oppres- 
sion of  the  Colonists— War  With  Indians — Nathaniel  Bacon — His 
Popularity — Conflict  With  Berkeley — Compromise  Secured — Berkeley 
Leaves  the  Province  to  Bacon — A  Convention — Bacon's  Unexpected 
Death — End  of  the  Insurrection — Colonel  Jeffrey  Succeeds  Berkeley 
— Berkeley's  Death — Culpepper  Appointed  Governor — Foundation  of 
Williamsburg,  and  the  College  of  William  and  Mary. 

THE  early  history  of  the  Carolinas  is  not  an  easy  one  to 
apprehend.  Made  up  of  small  enterprises  with  no 
purpose  higher  than  that  of  personal  advancement,  lacking 
any  great  principles,  or  indeed  any  principle  which  may  serve 
as  the  clue  through  the  labyrinth,  lacking  any  great  men  or 
great  events  to  give  color  to  the  narrative,  we  find  ourselves 
in  a  network  of  details  about  settlements,  Indian  fights  and 
quarrels,  which  is  difficult  to  disentangle  and  present  in  an  in- 
telligible form. 

The  region  south  of  Virginia  had  been  in  a  measure  neg- 
lected in  the  work  of  American  colonization.  The  ex- 
amples of  Ribault  and  Raleigh  in  the  sixteenth  century  had 
not  been  followed  until  late  in  the  seventeenth.  But  by  1660, 
although  no  very  definite  efforts  had  been  made  at  coloniza- 
tion, there  had  been  different  and  disconnected  settlements 
made  on  various  parts  of  the  shore  south  of  Virginia.  A  set- 
tlement was  made  from  Virginia  on  the  Albemarle  River, 
which  finally  became  the  colony  of  North  Carolina.  A  settle- 
ment of  New  England  men  was  planted  near  Cape  Fear,  but 
on  account  of  fear  of  the  Indians  it  was  given  up.  On  the 
same  spot,  some  years  later,  a  settlement  was  made  by  emi- 


92  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

grants  from  the  Barbadoes.  These  men  finally  deserted  this 
place  and  mingled  with  a  settlement  made  from  England 
some  years  before,  near  the  present  site  of  Charleston.  These 
settlements  had  no  given  forms  of  government  nor  any  claim 
to  their  land  save  that  of  "  squatters." 

This  was  the  condition  of  the  country  when  Charles  II. 
made  over  thevvhole  region  for  nearly  five  hundred  miles 
south  of  Virginia  to  a  number  of  noblemen  of  England. 
These  men  had  the  same  position  as  that  of  Lord  Baltimore — 
that  is,  they  were  proprietors  ;  and  Carolina,  as  it  was  then 
called,  was  made  a  proprietary  colony.  Among  the  proprie- 
tors were  Lord  Clarendon,  Lord  Albemarle  and  Lord  Ashley, 
-'  afterward  Earl  of  Shaftesbury.  They  at  once  set  to  work  to 
devise  a  scheme  of  government,  and  with  the  assistance  of 
John  Locke,  who  subsequently  became  famous  for  other 
things,  they  devised  the  most  singular  frame  of  government 
which  we  have  met  with  in  America.  It  was  called  the 
"  Fundamental  Constitutions  of  Carolina,"  and  was  in  effect 
a  statement  of  the  proposed  constitution  of  society  in  the  new 
colony.  The  political  and  religious  system  was  carefully  laid 
down  and  the  system  of  land  tenure,  together  with  provisions 
for  the  administration  of  justice.  The  government  contem- 
plated was  to  be  an  aristocracy,  at  the  head  of  which  were  to 
be  the  proprietors.  The  country  was  to  be  divided  into  coun- 
ties, each  made  up  of  eight  "  seignories,"  eight  "  baronies," 
and  twenty-four  colonies,  each  to  consist  of  twelve  thousand 
acres.  The  proprietors  were  to  own  the  "  seignories,"  the 
common  people  the  "colonies."  The  "baronies"  were  to 
belong  to  the  subordinate  nobility,  which  was  of  two  classes — 
first,  the  "  landgraves ;  "  second,  the  "  caciques."  Besides  the 
"  seignories,"  the  proprietors  (or  their  heirs)  were  to  possess 
the  following  offices  :  Palatine,  chancellor,  chief  justice,  con- 
stable, admiral,  treasurer,  high  steward  and  chamberlain,  and 
each  of  these  officials  was  to  be  assisted  by  a  court,  in  which 
the  "landgraves,"  the  "caciques,"  and  the  "commons  "  were 
to  be  represented.  We  have  gone  so  far  in  our  descriptions 
of  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  merely  to  give  an  idea  of 


THE  CAROLINAS.  93 

the  utter  inappropriateness  of  the  instrument  to  the  small, 
scattered  and  struggling  colonies  which  had  passed  under  the 
rule  of  the  proprietors.  Although  made  by  themselves,  the 
proprietors  seem  to  have  appreciated  the  absurdity  of  their 
frame  of  government,  for  they  never  heartily  endeavored  to 
put  it  into  force.  And  as  for  the  colonists,  they  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it,  and  made  up  assemblies  which  passed 
laws  to  suit  themselves. 

Not  that  the  proprietors  did  not  make  any  use  of  their 
constitution  and  charter.  They  at  once  sent  out  as  many 
colonists  as  they  could  tempt,  and  with  them  they  sent  out 
Sayle  as  deputy-governor,  and  other  officers,  for  the 
already  existing  colonies.  But  they  could  come  to  no  sort 
of  agreement  with  the  colonists  already  on  the  spot.  In 
North  Carolina  especially  the  settlers  were  a  turbulent  set. 
One  of  the  laws  of  that  colony  prohibited  the  collection  in 
its  borders  of  any  debt  incurred  outside  of  the  State.  The 
place  became,  therefore,  a  great  refuge,  and  in  consequence 
the  population  was  rough  and  wild.  The  government  over  them 
had  been  at  first  only  temporary,  the  proprietary  governors 
always  affirming  that  the  Fundamental  Constitutions  were  to 
be  put  into  force.  This  declaration  rendered  things  unsettled 
more.  South  Carolina  improved  more  than  North  Carolina, 
notably  through  the  introduction  of  the  culture  of  rice, 
which  was  found  to  be  particularly  fitted  to  its  soil  and  cli- 
mate. But  neither  colony  was  far  advanced  in  any  way  at 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

During  the  period  in  which  England  was  preparing  herself 
for  the  restoration  of  the  king  by  putting  aside  the  new  Pro- 
tector, Richard  Cromwell— from  the  spring  of  1659  till  that  of 
1660— Virginia  was  without  a  governor.  In  March  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  took  upon  itself  to  elect  Sir  William  Berkeley, 
who  had  been  superseded  by  the  Parliamentary  commission. 
He  was  confirmed  by  a  commission  from  the  king,  Charles  II., 
upon  his  restoration. 

Berkeley  ruled  his  colony  with  an  iron  hand.  With  him 
religion  meant  conformity   to    the  Established  Church.     He 


%) 


94  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

hated  non-conformity  and  set  himself  against  any  appeal  to  hu- 
man reason  in  matters  of  belief.  Puritans  and  Quakers  he 
detested,  and  regarded  their  departure  from  his  colony  as  a 
good  riddance.  He  says,  "  I  thank  God  there  are  no  free 
schools  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  them  these 
hundred  years;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedience  into 
the  world,  and  printing  has  divulged  them  and  libels  against 
the  best  governments.     God  keep  us  from  both." 

The  colonists  under  his  rule  were  oppressed,  industry  was 
paralyzed,  taxes  were  enormous.  Only  some  pretext  for  re- 
volt was  needed  to  rouse  the  people  to  resistance.  The  In- 
dians on  the  frontier  were  becoming  troublesome,  yet  Gov- 
ernor Berkeley,  who  perhaps  thought  such  reports  were 
exaggerated,  would  make  no  effort  to  check  them.  The  col- 
onists, determined  to  defend  themselves,  avenged  upon  some 
Indians — very  likely  the  wrong  ones — the  murder  of  one  of 
their  colonists.  Retaliation  followed.  All  the  Indian  tribes 
in  the  neighborhood  were  aroused.  The  colonists  of  Mary- 
land and  Virginia  united  in  an  expedition,  and  a  thousand 
men  were  sent  out  under  Colonel  John  Washington,  of  Vir- 
ginia, the  great-grandfather  of  George  Washington,  and  Major 
Thomas  Freeman,  of  Maryland.  There  was  no  conflict,  only 
a  parley,  during  which  the  whites  allowed  their  rage  to  blind 
them  so  far  as  to  execute  at  once  the  five  chiefs  who  came  to 
make  peace,  although  they  were  entitled  to  safe  conduct 
under  all  the  rules  of  war.  Public  opinion  even  then  con- 
demned the  act,  and  Washington  was  publicly  rebuked  by 
the  governor.  But  revenge  lay  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians, 
who  spread  dismay  all  through  Virginia.  The  condition  of 
the  colonists  was  deplorable,  in  constant  danger  of  attack 
from  the  savages,  who  lurked  throughout  the  land.  Yet 
Berkeley  remained  strangely  indifferent  to  the  sufferings  of 
the  colonists,  and  dead,  apparently,  to  their  appeals  for  pro- 
tection. 

A  young  man  named  Nathaniel  Bacon  became  greatly 
moved  by  the  distress  of  the  people  around  him,  and  when, 
in  the  early  spring,  savages  killed  two   persons  upon  his  own 


BERKELEY   AND   BACON.  Q$ 

plantation,  he  was  roused  to  action.  He  swore  to  avenge 
the  death  of  his  overseer,  and,  without  any  commission  from 
the  governor,  gathered  together  a  considerable  force,  with 
which  he  moved  toward  the  wilderness,  attacked  a  fortified 
village,  burned  it,  and  put  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indians  to 
death. 

This  act  of  Bacon's  made  him  popular  enough  to  be  elected 
for  the  new  Assembly  in  spite  of  his  defiance  of  the  gov- 
ernor, but  it  did  not  prevent  his  arrest  by  the  order  of  that 
dignitary  when  he  came  to  Jamestown  for  the  meeting  of  the 
burgesses.  Yet  he  was  allowed  to  take  his  seat  in  that  body, 
and  Berkeley,  who  seems  to  have  had  a  tender  feeling  for  the 
young  man,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  house  extended  his 
forgiveness  to  him,  which  Bacon  received  kneeling,  after 
admitting  his  crime  and  begging  pardon  of  God,  the  king 
and  the  governor. 

But  this  reconciliation  between  the  wily  old  man  and  the 
fiery  youth  was  brief.  In  a  few  days  the  rumor  ran  through 
the  town  that  Bacon  had  fled,  and  soon  after  the  news 
came  that  the  rebel  was  marching  upon  the  town  with  four 
or  five  hundred  men.  It  is  supposed  that  Bacon  had  reason 
to  suspect  Berkeley  of  treachery,  and  this  is  the  only  excuse 
for  his  own  breaking  faith.  It  was  a  scene  of  wild  excitement 
when  the  governor  and  council  went  forth  into  the  street  to 
treat  with  the  rebel  leader,  who  had  taken  his  position,  pro- 
tected by  his  troops,  near  the  State  House.  Berkeley  and 
Bacon  were  both  enraged.  The  governor  bared  his  breast 
and  cried,  "  Shoot  me  !     'Fore  God,  fair   mark  !  shoot  me  !  " 

For  a  moment  Bacon  controlled  himself,  and  replied  with 
something  of  respect.  But  when  the  governor  turned  away, 
followed  by  his  council,  the  fury  of  the  rebel  burst  forth,  and 
he  shouted,  "  Damn  my  blood  !  I'll  kill  governor,  council, 
Assembly  and  all !  " 

Fusils  were  pointed  at  the  windows  crowded  with  anxious 
faces,  the  pieces  were  cocked,  when  someone  waved  a  "  hand- 
kercher  "  at  a  window  and  called  out  that  they  should  be  satis- 
fied.    This  person  was  recognized  as  an  influential  citizen. 


g6  history  of  the  united  states. 

The  soldiers  lowered  their  arms  and  were  marched  away,  and 
thus  ended  the  scene. 

Berkeley  was  forced  to  a  compromise,  and  Bacon's  com- 
mission was  promptly  passed  by  the  burgesses  and  confirmed 
by  governor  and  council.  Not  only  this,  but  many  other 
concessions  were  made  by  the  Assembly  for  the  benefit  of  the 
people. 

Bacon  now  speedily  brought  together  the  thousand  men 
allowed  him  by  the  commission,  and  set  out  for  a  vigorous 
campaign  against  the  Indians ;  but  the  contest  soon  turned 
to  one  between  his  authority  and  that  of  the  governor. 
Berkeley  could  not  let  him  alone  ;  he  proclaimed  him  an  out- 
law and  marched  against  him  and  his  thousand  men,  but  was 
driven  from  his  position  and  left  the  province  to  his  oppo- 
nent, now  virtually  Governor  of  Virginia  and  remarkably 
popular.  Bacon  issued  a  call  for  a  convention,  which  was 
responded  to  by  a  large  assembly  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
province.  Their  deliberations  were  those  of  a  grave  body 
of  men  who  had  begun  a  war  of  independence  ;  for  the  move- 
ment had  grown  from  a  simple  desire  to  protect  themselves 
from  the  inroads  of  Indians  to  a  determination  to  throw  off 
unreasonable  restraint. 

The  result  was  a  determined  attack  upon  Berkeley,  who 
resisted  it  with  varying  success.  In  the  end  he  and  his  ad- 
herents gave  up  all  hope  of  overcoming  the  rebels,  and  one 
night,  in  the  dark,  governor,  officials,  troops,  all  departed 
from  Jamestown  with  the  townspeople  and  their  household 
goods.  When  Bacon  entered  the  next  morning  he  found  the 
town  absolutely  deserted  and  bare  of  all  provisions,  and  since 
there  was  no  longer  any  profit  in  holding  the  place  he  de- 
cided to  destroy  it.  That  night  flames  utterly  consumed  the 
first  English  town  built  in  America.  The  first  church  that 
ever  was  in  Virginia  was  burned  to  the  ground.  The  place 
was  never  rebuilt. 

Bacon  was  now  master,  and  might  carry  on  his  schemes 
of  liberty  and  progress  for  the  colony  and  push  further  his 
Indian  victories.     But  in  the  very  height  of  his  success,  and 


bacon's  death.  97 

on  the  threshold  of  new  enterprises,  a  trifling  illness  which 
he  had  neglected  in  the  heat  of  contest  began  to  gain  upon 
him.  Nothing  checked  the  progress  of  the  disease,  and  on 
the  ist  day  of  October,  1676,  not  more  than  six  months  from 
the  beginning  of  his  exciting  career,  he  died. 

The  insurrection  he  had  so  boldly  pushed  forward  was 
without  a  leader.  No  one  was  fitted  to  his  task.  The  in- 
spiration of  the  violent,  enthusiastic  Bacon  was  wanting,  and 
despondency  and  panic  prevailed.  The  rebellion  suddenly 
died  out.  The  followers  of  a  lost  cause  scattered  to  their 
homes,  and  Berkeley  lost  little  time  in  availing  himself  of  the 
situation.  He  was  reinstated  in  power  and  used  it  without 
mercy. 

As  an  active  argument  the  rebellion  was  at  an  end;  it 
lasted  only  in  the  minds  and  memories  of  the  people,  who 
secretly  clung  to  the  cause  of  their  lost  leader.  The  insur- 
rection had  cost  the  colony  a  hundred  thousand  pounds,  the 
loss  of  many  lives,  and  a  turbulent  summer  season  ;  it  de- 
veloped in  the  people  a  knowledge  of  their  own  power  and 
of  the  possibility  of  independence  which  should  bear  fruit  in 
another  generation.  Nor  was  the  triumph  of  Berkeley  last- 
ing. In  the  beginning  of  the  next  year  came  from  England 
a  small  fleet  bringing  Colonel  Herbert  Jeffreys,  armed  with  a 
commission  to  succeed  Sir  William  Berkeley  in  his  office  of 
governor,  with  commissioners  to  investigate  the  causes  of  the 
rebellion. 

When  this  fleet  returned  to  England  Berkeley  went  with 
it,  leaving  forever  the  scene  of  his  arbitrary  power.  The  old 
cavalier  was  ill  and  broken  in  spirit.  He  sank  rapidly  after 
he  arrived,  without  seeing  the  king,  with  whom  he  would  fain 
have  pleaded  his  cause.  In  a  few  weeks  he  died,  broken- 
hearted and  disgraced,  "  which  shuts  up  this  tragedy,"  as  an 
old  writer  says  in  his  conclusion  of  it. 

The  condition  of  the  colony  was  by  no  means  improved 
after  Bacon's  rebellion.  Culpepper,  who  came  out  shortly 
afterward  as  governor,  had  no  particular  interest  in  the  col- 
ony beyond  carrying  out  the  orders  with  which  he  had  been 
5 


98  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

intrusted.  He  was  not  a  Virginian  and  cared  very  little 
about  Virginia.  He  was  ordered  in  his  instructions  to  curtail 
the  popular  power  so  as  to  leave  little  more  than  a  mere 
show  of  self-government.  The  franchise  was  restricted.  The 
calling  of  assemblies  was  rendered  dependent  on  the  crown, 
and  when  assembled  they  had  no  power  to  originate  legislation 
but  only  to  confirm  or  reject  laws  drafted  by  the  crown. 
Culpepper  was  desirous  of  standing  well  with  both  sides — 
the  colony  and  the  home  government ;  so  he  applied  the  laws 
which  had  been  intrusted  to  him  as  leniently  as  he  might,  and 
returned  to  England,  leaving  a  deputy.  He  returned  shortly, 
but  in  a  year  or  two  was  superseded  by  Lord  Howard,  of  Ef- 
fingham. By  this  time  James  II.  had  come  to  the  throne,  and 
Howard's  proceedings  in  the  colony  bore  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  those  of  his  master  in  England  and  his  co-laborer, 
Sir  Edmund  Andros,  in  New  England. 

The  revolution  of  1688  made  little  change  in  the  Virginia 
colony.  Their  energies  had  been  exhausted  by  Bacon's  re- 
bellion, and  they  gained  nothing  by  the  change  in  dynasty 
at  home.  Howard  continued  to  be  governor,  although,  as  he 
preferred  to  reside  in  England,  he  was  generally  represented 
by  deputy.  He  was  succeeded  by  Sir  Edmund  Andros  in 
1692.    Virginia  was  not  fortunate  in  her  royal  governors. 

We  should  note  here  the  founding  of  the  town  of  Williams- 
burg as  capitol  of  the  colony,  and  more  especially  the  estab- 
lishment, in  1692,  of  the  second  college  in  the  country,  to 
which  was  given  the  name  of  William  and  Mary,  in  honor  of 
the  new  dynasty. 


NEW   YORK  AND   PENNSYLVANIA.  99 


CHAPTER    IX. 

New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 

Quakers — New  Jersey — Second  Attempt  to  Colonize  by  William  Penn  in 
Pennsylvania — Delaware — Peace  in  America — Struggle  Between  Peo- 
ple and  Proprietors — Non-warlike  Character  of  the  People — Leisler 
in  New  York — Attack  on  Schenectady — Suppression  of  Piracy — Ex- 
ecution of  Kidd — Governor  and  Assembly. 

IN  studying  the  settlement  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsyl- 
vania we  again  meet  with  the  people  called  Quakers,  no 
longer  the  eccentric  individuals,  half-deluded  by  religious 
excitement,  and  half-crazed  by  ill-treatment,  who  gave  the 
Puritans  of  Massachusetts  so  favorable  a  chance  to  show 
which  side  they  would  take  in  the  great  question  of  tolera- 
tion ;  no  longer  the  fanatic  and  turbulent  religious  zealots 
who  by  their  wild  proceedings  called  to  recollection  the 
atrocities  of  the  Anabaptists  at  Munster.  William  Penn  was 
the  son  of  an  admiral  who  served  England  well.  Bred  up  with 
care,  he  received  the  usual  education  of  his  day,  and  went  to 
Oxford,  as  did  other  sons  of  English  gentlemen.  But  here 
he  showed  tendencies  toward  religious  views  which  seemed 
strange  and  uncouth  to  his  immediate  contemporaries.  For- 
eign travel  improved  his  natural  advantages,  and  when  he 
came  back  from  the  Continent  he  was  as  refined  and  elegant 
a  gentleman  as  any  in  England.  Imagine  the  astonishment 
of  his  friends  when  it  was  found  that  he  had  embraced  the 
doctrines  of  the  "  man  in  leathern  breeches  " — that  he  had  be- 
come a  member  of  a  contemned  and  almost  unknown  sect. 
Yet  so  it  was.  Penn  was,  indeed,  the  most  eminent  of  the 
English  Quakers,  as  far  as  worldly  position  is  concerned,  and 
above  the  average  in  manners  and  intellect.  Yet  it  seems  no 
less  doubtful  that  in  twenty  years  the  body  of  Friends  had 


100  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

immeasurably  improved,  and  now  were  something  far  more 
noble  and  dignified  than  if  represented  only  by  the  sack- 
cloth wearers  of  whom  we  hear  in  previous  history. 

New  Jersey  was  at  first  a  part  of  that  large  tract  of  country 
granted  by  Charles  II.  to  his  brother,  James,  Duke  of  York. 
By  this  latter  the  country  was  sold  to  two  of  those  noblemen, 
about  the  court  of  Charles  II.,  whose  minds  turned  toward 
making  a  fortune  in  America.  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George 
Carteret  obtained  a  piece  of  territory  of  great  value,  contain- 
ing nearly  all  the  sea-coast  in  the  whole  grant.  There  were  at 
the  time  but  few  settlers  in  the  country,  some  Dutch,  some 
Swedes,  some  New  Englanders.  The  territory,  with  New 
York,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Dutch  during  the  war  in 
1673,  but  at  the  peace  of  Breda  again  reverted  to  England, 
then  to  the  Duke  of  York  again,  and  so  to  the  former  pro- 
prietaries. But  affairs  by  no  means  prospered,  and  Berkeley 
sold  his  share  to  certain  Quakers,  who  had  a  desire  to  set  up 
a  colony  in  the  New  World  as  a  refuge  for  their  persecuted 
sect.  With  this  aim  in  view  they  applied  to  their  co-proprie- 
tary, Sir  George  Carteret,  for  a  division  of  the  territory,  and 
as  a  consequence  two  colonies  were  made — East  and  West 
New  Jersey.  The  Quakers  at  once  set  to  work  to  colonize 
West  New  Jersey,  their  share,  which  was  almost  uninhabited 
and  thus  suitable  for  new  colonization.  In  the  latter  years  of 
Charles  II.  many  Quakers  emigrated  and  settled  in  the  coun- 
try. Some  years  after  the  purchase  of  West  New  Jersey,  Sir 
George  Carteret  died,  and  his  assigns  sold  his  rights  in  the 
other  Jersey  to  twelve  Quakers,  who,  encouraged  by  the  suc- 
cess of  the  co-religionists,  desired  to  imitate  them.  In  both 
these  purchases  William  Penn  had  a  share,  but  no  attempt 
was  made  to  make  this  latter  colony  distinctly  Quaker,  for 
there  were  already  many  settlers  in  the  region.  Certain 
Scotchmen  associated  themselves  in  the  venture,  and  many 
Scotch  emigrated.  In  both  the  colonies  was  there  liberty  of 
worship  and  of  political  rights.  No  taxes  were  to  be  laid 
without  the  consent  of  the  people.  The  proprietaries  had  the 
right  of  appointment  of  officers  and  the  right  of  veto.     Such 


NEW   JERSEY.  IOI 

was  the  history  of  the  settlement  of  the  Jerseys.  The  ar- 
rangements described  lasted  until  1702,  when  the  proprietaries, 
who  had  not  wholly  made  good  their  views  in  the  matter* 
and  who  had  become  weary  of  the  many  disputes  which  had 
from  time  to  time  arisen,  sold  their  rights  to  the  crown.  The 
two  colonies  were  joined,  and  a  royal  government  was  ar- 
ranged for  New  Jersey  much  on  the  pattern  of  the  other  royal 
provinces. 

The  experiments  in  New  Jersey  having  failed  of  success  for 
more  reasons  than  one,  William  Penn  desired  to  try  once 
more  under  rather  more  encouraging  conditions.  In  1680 
he  obtained  from  Charles  II.  a  grant  of  land,  to  which  the 
name  of  Pennsylvania  was  given,  and  a  charter  as  proprietary 
thereof.  The  deed  of  land  included  forty  thousand  square 
miles  of  the  territory  between  Maryland  and  New  York.  Like 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  was  a  distinctly  bounded  territory. 
The  other  colonies  as  a  rule  were  held  to  run  to  the  Pacific, 
and  hence  the  necessity  of  the  cessions  of  public  land  after 
the  Revolutionary  War.  Pennsylvania  had  a  western  bound- 
ary. As  soon  as  Penn  set  forward  the  scheme  for  his  colony 
large  numbers  of  Quakers  were  ready  to  emigrate.  The  pro- 
visions for  government  were  of  the  broadest  character.  There 
was  to  be  perfect  liberty  of  conscience.  There  was  to  be 
political  freedom.  There  was  to  be  judicial  protection  for 
the  Indian  as  well  as  the  white  man.  Emigration  became 
active  at  once  and  so  continued  for  some  years.  Before  the 
end  of  the  century  the  colony  numbered  twenty  thousand. 
The  first  settlers  went  forth  in  i68ir/  Jjsj'  tho/next  yjgaft*  Penn 
himself  followed,  with  others.  The -government  had  already 
been  established  by  commissioners."  stoit,  out  by  him,". and '-an 
assembly  had  been  called.  As  soon  as  Penn  arrived  a  body  of 
laAv  was  drawn  up  on  the  principles  which  he  had  set  forward. 
He  proceeded  to  deal  with  the  Indians.  Having  purchased 
his  land  of  Charles  II.  in  deference  to  the  public  law  of  the 
time,  Penn  proceeded,  in  accordance  with  his  own  ideas  of 
equity,  to  purchase  it  again  of  the  Indian  owners.  With  these 
last,  said  he,  the  English  would  always  be  just,  and  would 


102  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

always  be  at  peace.  As  in  West  New  Jersey,  the  Indians 
promised  to  be  faithful  friends  of  the  whites.  "  You  are  our 
brothers,"  the  chiefs  had  then  said,  "  and  we  will  live  like 
brothers  with  you.  We  will  have  a  broad  path  for  you  and  us 
to  walk  in.  If  an  Englishman  falls  asleep  in  this  path  the 
Indian  shall  pass  him  by  and  say,  'He  is  an  Englishman;  he 
is  asleep;  let  him  alone.'  "  And  Penn  now  said  to  the  Indians, 
"  We  are  the  same  as  if  one  man's  body  were  to  be  divided 
into  two  parts;  we  are  all  one  flesh  and  blood."  At  a  little 
distance  from  the  great  tree  at  Shackamaxon  under  which  the 
compact  was  made  Penn  named  the  site  for  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  ordered  a  house  to  be  built  for  himself. 

Lower  down  the  river  were  "  the  three  counties  on  the 
Delaware,"  as  they  were  called.  Originally  settled  by  the 
Dutch,  who  had  been  driven  away  by  the  Indians,  the  country 
had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes  in  the  time  of  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus.  For  some  time  it  was  held  by  them,  but 
came  later  into  the  possession  of  the  Dutch,  and,  then,  when 
New  Netherlands  changed  hands,  into  the  power  of  the  En- 
glish. It  was  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  province  of  the  Duke 
of  York,  but  Penn  had  managed  to  gain  that  prince's  assent 
to  have  it  added  to  his  other  domain,  for  he  saw  the  necessity 
of  having  free  access  to  the  ocean. 

Penn  remained  in  America  for  two  years.  At  the  end  of 
that  time,  having  made  a  fair  beginning,  he  returned  to  En- 
gland for  a  time.  He  had  organized  and  arranged  the  form 
of  government  for  his  colony;  he  had  made  stable  arrange- 
ments'with  the  Ir.diaW;  he  had  succeeded  in  carrying  through 
his  plans  to  the  contentment  and  satisfaction  of  his  settlers. 
The  only  tVoubJeb  had  lvln  with  Maryland,  on  the  south,  re- 
garding boundaries,  and  on  the  north  with  New  York,  as  to 
the  jurisdiction  of  certain  territory.  He  left  the  government 
of  the  province  to  the  president,  secretary,  and  a  council. 
While  he  was  absent  matters  did  not  run  as  smoothly  as  be- 
fore, owing  to  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of  the  settlers  with 
the  officers  whom  he  had  left.  Affairs  were  by  no  means  set- 
tled by  the  appointment  of  some  new  officials.    Not  only  were 


PENNSYLVANIA.  IO3 

there  political  quarrels,  but  religious  disturbances  were  added. 
A  violent  schismatic,  George  Keith  by  name,  was  confined  in 
prison  on  account  of  his  proceedings,  and,  though  it  appears 
that  the  colony  acted  by  no  means  severely,  the  affair  was 
magnified  in  England,  and  the  government  was  taken  from 
Penn  and  transferred  to  a  royal  commission.  Fletcher,  the 
royal  governor,  proceeded  to  endeavor  to  carry  through  cer- 
tain innovations,  and  affairs  were  in  a  very  bad  position.  In 
1694,  however,  Penn  received  justice  at  the  hands  of  William 
and  Mary,  and  received  back  the  government,  for  which  he 
sent  out  a  deputy,  who  managed  to  arrange  matters  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  people.  In  1699  Penn  himself  came  out 
from  England,  intending  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
his  colony.  New  changes  in  the  form  of  government  were 
made;  but  in  1701,  Penn,  learning  that  attempts  were  being 
made  in  England  to  take  away  his  patent,  once  more  sailed 
for  that  country  and  never  returned. 

In  the  succeeding  history  of  Pennsylvania  there  are  two 
tendencies  noticeable.  One  is  the  continual  struggle  betw.een 
the  people  and  the  proprietaries ;  the  other  is  the  indifference 
displayed,  on  account  of  Quaker  principles,  to  any  connection 
with  the  warlike  proceedings  of  the  other  colonies.  Penn- 
sylvania, being  at  peace  with  the  Indians  within  her  bound- 
aries, made  no  contributions,  or  reluctant  contributions  at 
best,  to  the  various  expeditions  which  the  other  colonies  made 
against  the  French  and  Indians,  and  took  no  part  in  the  con- 
stant struggles  with  French  or  Spanish  which  disturbed  the 
northern  and  southern  colonies.  The  colony  was  practically 
self-governed,  the  power  of  the  proprietaries  was  reduced  to 
a  minimum,  and,  though  there  were  constant  disagreements 
in  regard  to  many  matters,  the  colony  on  the  whole  flourished 
exceedingly. 

In  the  southern  colonies  the  Revolution  had  been  accepted 
easily,  and  the  events  of  1688  had  hardly  caused  any  change 
save  that  of  governors.  In  the  northern  colonies,  gathered 
all  together  into  one  province  and  oppressed  by  the  rigorous 
rule  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  the  ending  of  one  system  and  the 


I 


104  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

beginning  of  another  was  not  effected  without  some  little 
disturbance.  We  have  already  traced  the  proceedings  in  New 
England. 

In  New  York  a  more  lengthened  struggle  took  place.  The 
people  of  that  colony  were  by  no  means  homogeneous.  There 
were  Dutch,  English,  and  New  Englanders,  and  many  others. 
On  the  news  of  William's  landing  in  England  and  of  the 
imprisonment  of  Andros  the  lieutenant-governor  practically 
abdicated.  Jacob  Leisler,  a  captain  in  the  militia  and  a  man 
of  influence  among  the  Dutch,  seized  the  power  and  pro- 
claimed the  Prince  of  Orange.  The  temporary  government 
set  up  by  him  and  his  followers  was  confirmed  by  King 
William.  But  he  was  by  no  means  the  representative  of  the 
whole  colony.  The  richer  Dutch  proprietors,  the  remains  of 
Nicholson's  government,  and  many  of  the  English  in  the 
province,  were  bitterly  opposed  to  him.  His  proceedings 
were  not  such  as  to  reconcile  opposition.  He  was  harsh  and 
arbitrary  and  knew  but  little  of  government.  The  militia 
sided  with  him,  and  he  seized  upon  the  town  of  New  York 
and  the  fort,  while  his  opponents  retired  to  Albany,  where 
they  too  proclaimed  William  III.,  and  set  forth  their  intention 
not  to  submit  to  Leisler.  This  continued  for  some  time.  In 
1691  a  governor  was  sent  from  England,  Slaughter  by  name; 
but  he  was  preceded  by  Major  Ingoldsby  with  troops,  who 
demanded  of  Leisler  the  surrender  of  the  fort.  Leisler  re- 
fused, for  Ingoldsby  held  no  commission  from  the  governor. 

'  Protesting  his  readiness  to  obey  the  governor,  or  his  order, 
Leisler  held  the  fort  against  the  British  troops,  and  even  fired 
on  them.  On  Slaughter's  arrival  he  surrendered,  and  was  at 
once  imprisoned,  and  he  and  seven  of  the  principal  of  his 
adherents  were  tried  for  murder  and  treason  and  found 
guilty.  All  were  reprieved  save  Leisler  and  Milbourne,  his 
son-in-law.     Slaughter  was  persuaded,  while  drunk,  to  sign 

i  ■-  the  warrants  for  their  death,  and  both  were  hanged.  It  was 
a  cruel  and  unnecessary  act,  though,  perhaps,  justified  by 
technicalities. 

During  the  administration  of  Leisler  occurred  one  of  the 


SCHENECTADY.  105 

most  famous  of  the  many  Indian  massacres  in  the  history  of 
the  French  and  Indian  wars. 

The  town  of  Schenectady  lies  sixteen  or  seventeen  miles 
west  from  Albany,  on  the  Mohawk  River.  In  1690  it  was 
the  frontier  town  of  the  colony  next  the  Mohawk  country. 
It  was  palisaded  ;  having  two  gates,  one  facing  toward  Albany 
and  the  other  toward  the  west.  Within  the  palisade  were 
nearly  eighty  houses,  the  dwellings  of  the  inhabitants,  about 
two  hundred  in  number,  nearly  all  Dutch,  and  therefore  at 
this  time  were  all  standing  for  Leisler,  and  at  variance  with 
Captain  T  aim  age  and  such  Connecticut  militiamen  in  the 
block  house  as  were  under  orders  from  Albany,  where  the 
anti-Leislerites  had  control.  The  village,  being  divided 
against  itself,  took  no  thought  of  any  danger  and  left  both 
gates  open. 

Count  Frontenac,  the  Governor  of  Canada,  now  saw  an 
auspicious  time  for  an  attack  on  the  southern  colonies,  desir- 
ing both  to  encourage  his  Indian  allies  and  to  strike  terror 
into  the  Mohawks,  whom  he  was  now  tempting  to  leave  the 
English  and  join  him.  He  prepared  to  attack  the  frontier 
homes  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and  New  York.  The  last 
named  expedition  was  ready  first.  Starting  from  Montreal 
in  the  middle  of  winter,  about  two  hundred  men,  some 
Indians  and  some  Canadians,  took  their  way  southward. 
They  reached  Lake  Champlain  and  held  their  way  toward 
the  head  of  the  lake  on  the  ice.  Here  they  had  a  council. 
The  Indians  demanded  the  object  of  the  expedition.  The 
leaders  said  they  were  to  attack  Albany.  The  Indians 
grumbled  and  the  whole  expedition  apparently  thought  it  a 
dangerous  undertaking,  for,  on  proceeding  farther  south,  where 
the  road  parted,  they  all  took  the  left-hand  road  leading  to 
Schenectady.  The  weather  was  very  bad.  They  took  more 
time  in  reaching  Schenectady  from  this  point  than  it  had 
taken  all  the  way  from  Montreal.  They  waded  in  the  snow 
and  mud  up  to  their  knees.  As  they  approached  the  town 
it  became  colder.     They  were  in  a  miserable  condition,  for 

they  did  not  dare  to  light  a   fire  for  fear  of  alarming  the 
5* 


( 


• 


■  ■■    t    :  Fr  1 


106  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

inhabitants.  They  crossed  the  river  on  the  ice  a  little  above 
the  town,  and  about  midnight  stood  before  the  western  gate, 
where,  it  is  said,  the  inhabitants  had  erected  a  snow  man  to 
serve  as  guard  for  the  gate.  But  this  guard  gave  no  alarm, 
and  the  French  and  Indians  entered  the  palisade  and  sur- 
rounded the  houses.  At  a  given  signal  they  rushed  upon  the 
inhabitants.  It  was  the  night  after  a  festivity,  and  the  Dutch 
were  sleeping  soundly.  The  massacre  was  cruel  in  the 
extreme.  Men,  women  and  children  were  killed  to  the  num- 
ber of  almost  half  the  inhabitants.  A  few  escaped,  one  of 
them  jumping  on  a  horse  and  riding  out  of  the  east,  gate  to 
Albany,  where  he  gave  the  alarm.  The  rest  were  made  prison- 
ers and  the  town  was  set  on  fire,  and  the  war  party  started  for 
Canada.  At  Albany  a  pursuit  was  organized,  but  with  no 
important  results.  The  pursuers  started  several  days  behind 
their  foes.  Following  them  rapidly,  they  came  on  a  detached 
party  of  Indians,  near  Montreal,  and  cut  them  to  pieces. 

This  was  one  of  the  worst  blows  that  was  struck  from 
Canada  until  the  great  French  and  Indian  war.  It  is  typical 
enough  of  the  fighting  which  continued  with  uncertain  ces- 
sations for  half  a  century  more.  Fletcher,  who  succeeded 
Slaughter  as  governor,  was  not  unsuccessful  in  his  Indian 
wars.  The  Mohawks  repaid  the  French  expedition  by  war 
parties  that  reached  almost  to  Montreal,  and  Major  Peter 
Schuyler,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  English,  Dutch, 
Mohawks  and  Mohegans  made  a  raid  which  penetrated  Can- 
ada, did  much  harm,  and  retreated  in  safety,  though  they 
narrowly  escaped  being  utterly  destroyed. 

In  other  respects,  however,  Fletcher  was  not  successful, 
and  the  colony  was  well  pleased  when  he  was  recalled  and 
the  Earl  of  Bellomont  was  appointed  in  his  stead.  This  noble- 
man came  to  the  New  World  desiring  to  do  his  best  in 
government.  He  was  only  partially  successful.  He  was 
given  the  government  of  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  New 
Hampshire,  and  one  of  his  chief  desires  was  to  be  able  to  sup- 
press the  piracy  which  existed  on  the  coast.  But  here  he 
was  not  wholly  successful.     William   Kidd,   who  had   been 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  IO? 

sent  out  to  suppress  the  pirates,  saw  more  profit  in  joining 
them.  Bellomont  had  been  implicated  with  him  before  he 
had  been  sent  out,  and  he  now,  of  course,  particularly  desired  ^L 
to  bring  Kidd  to  justice.  This  was  done  and  Kidd  was  exe-  ■ 
cuted.  But  a  certain  amount  of  suspicion  attached  itself  to 
Bellomont  in  the  transaction.  He  died  while  in  office, 
in  1701. 

New  York  history,  for  the  next  fifty  years,  is  to  be 
traced,  chiefly,  in  the  Indian  wars  and  in  the  quarrels  between 
governor  and  Assembly.  The  royal  governors  were  perpet- 
ually endeavoring  to  compel  the  people  to  acknowledge  more 
and  more  the  power  of  the  king  and  parliament,  and  the  people 
were  as  vigorous  to  assert  their  own  rights.  The  reluctance  of 
the  Assembly  to  vote  the  governor  a  regular  salary,  and  the 
attempts  to  enforce  the  navigation  laws  and  other  matters, 
make  up  a  continued  state  of  quarreling.  The  French,  too, 
had  more  easy  access  to  New  York  than  to  the  other  colo- 
nies, by  the  way  of  Lake  Champlain  and  Lake  George,  and, 
although  there  were  no  more  massacres  tike  that  at  Schenec- 
tady, there  were  almost  continual  Indian  troubles. 


108  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  X. 
New  England  for  Sixty  Years. 

The  Government  of  Massachusetts — Sir  William  Phips — Capture  of  Port 
Royal — Unsuccessful  Expedition  Against  Quebec — The  New  Charter 
— Maine  and  New  Hampshire — Capture  of  York — Witchcraft — A 
Special  Commission  for  the  Trial — Connecticut  Under  the  Old  Charter 
— Foundation  of  Yale  College — Expedition  to  Jamaica — Capture  of 
Louisburg. 

THE  government  made  by  the  men  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  after  the  suppression  of  Andros  was  only  a  temporary 
makeshift,  and  as  such  was  it  understood  on  all  hands.  The 
charter,  having  been  vacated  by  regular  process  of  law,  could 
not  be  resumed,  as  had  those  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Isl- 
and. This  provisional  government  lasted,  however,  for  more 
than  three  years,  and  for  that  length  of  time  the  minds  of 
men  were  unsettled,  it  being  in  noway  certain  what  manner  of 
charter  William  of  Orange  might  be  ready  to  grant.  It  must 
by  no  means  be  imagined  that,  because  William  was  him 
self  opposed  to  the  Stuarts,  his  ideas  as  to  colonial  govern- 
ment would  be  diametrically  opposed  to  theirs.  There 
was  not,  on  the  whole,  so  very  great  difference  in  their 
general  principles  in  that  respect.  Both  held  to  the  econom- 
ical principles  of  the  day  in  supposing  that  the  colony  must 
enrich  the  mother  country,  and  both  were  disinclined,  by 
nature,  to  part  with  any  portion  of  their  prerogative  in  govern- 
ing any  of  their  subjects.  In  one  respect  William  would  be 
an  improvement — there  would  be  no  danger  of  religious  in- 
tolerance. But  as  for  the  dependency  of  Massachusetts,  and 
the  Navigation  act,  it  was  probable  that  they  would  be  in- 
sisted upon  as  vigorously  by  William  as  they  had  been  by 
Charles  and  James. 


SIR  WILLIAM    PHIPS.  IO9 

For  the  present,  however,  Sir  William  Phips,  who  came  over 
with  the  order  for  the  proclamation  of  William  and  Mary,  also 
bore  with  him  the  expression  of  the  king's  pleasure  that  the 
provisional  government  should  continue  until  other  arrange- 
ments might  be  made. 

Sir  William  Phips  is  a  romantic  figure  in  the  history  of  this 
period.  Born  in  1650,  in  a  little  settlement  on  the  Kennebec 
River,  one  of  twenty-six  children  by  one  mother,  he  received 
little  or  no  education.  He  passed  his  youth  in  farm  labor. 
On  attaining  manhood,  however,  he  became  a  ship-carpenter, 
moved  down  to  Boston,  married  a  widow  older  and  richer 
than  himself,  learned  to  read  and  write,  and  became  confident 
of  rising  in  the  world,  though  still  at  a  loss  as  to  the  exact 
means.  About  this  time  his  mind  became  full  of  a  sufficiently 
wild  project  for  going  to  the  West  Indies  in  search  of  a  sunk- 
en Spanish  ship  laden  with  silver,  which  had  been  wrecked 
some  half  a  century  before.  He  carried  this  scheme  through. 
He  went  to  England,  obtained  by  some  means  a  king's  ship, 
and  after  one  unsuccessful  attempt  obtained  the  treasure,  worth 
a  million  and  a  half  dollars  in  the  value  of  money  in  that 
day.  With  this  he  returned  to  England,  where  he  was  knight- 
ed and  offered  a  position  in  the  royal  navy.  But  he  preferred 
to  return  to  New  England,  and  did  so. 

At  this  time  the  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  frontier  was 
suffering  from  French  and  Indian  raids.  The  colony  deter- 
mined to  strike  a  blow  at  Port  Royal,  from  whence  issued 
privateers  to  the  damage  of  their  commerce.  Sir  William 
Phips  was  given  the  command  of  the  expedition  and  achieved 
success.  That  is  to  say,  Port  Royal  surrendered,  and  the 
French  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John  was  taken  and 
destroyed.  But  his  success  in  this  direction  inspired  the  col- 
ony to  undertake  a  more  difficult  expediton,  which  turned 
out  less  fortunately.  This  was  nothing  less  than  an  attempt 
to  capture  Quebec,  the  stronghold  and  capital  of  New  France. 
From  Montreal,  Three  Rivers  and  Quebec,  the  French  and 
Indian  war  parties  found  little  difficulty  in  making  raids  on 
the  exposed  English  colonies  on  the  Connecticut  River  or  on 


lb 


1 10  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

the  back  settlements  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine.  The 
English  found  it  difficult  to  retaliate.  From  Boston  to  Que- 
bec by  land  was  no  easy  expedition,  and  no  victory  short  of 
one  at  Quebec  would  do  service.  But  the  English  had  the  ad- 
vantage by  sea.  From  Boston,  as  it  proved  afterward,  New 
Englanders  could  be  put  on  board  ships  and  landed  at  Port 
Royal,  at  Louisburg,  or  at  Quebec,  where  operations  might  be 
conducted  with  no  small  success.  Such,  however,  was  not  the 
lot  of  the  present  expedition.  When  Phips,  after  many  trials 
and  delays,  cast  anchor  off  Quebec,  he  found  himself  before  a 
superior  force,  sheltered  behind  impregnable  fortifications. 
After  some  fruitless  cannonading  and  some  land  fighting  he 
had  nothing  to  do  but  to  turn  round  and  race  back  to  New 
England.  Nothing  came  of  the  expedition  save  the  depletion 
of  the  Massachusetts  treasury  and  the  consequent  issue  of 
paper  money,  the  first  in  a  long  series  of  disastrous  financial 
experiments. 

On  his  return  from  Quebec  Phips  was  sent  by  the  colony 
to  England,  to  assist  Mather  and  the  other  agents  in  their  la- 
bors in  getting  as  favorable  a  charter  as  possible  from  the 
king.  On  the  14th  of  May,  1692,  he  returned  to  Boston  with 
the  new  charter,  being  himself  commissioned  as  governor  of 
the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  new  charter  was  by 
no  means  as  favorable  in  respect  to  the  independence  of 
Massachusetts  as  had  been  the  former  one,  as  interpreted  by 
its  patentees.  But  it  had  been  difficult  for  Mather  to  procure 
one  even  so  good.  The  old  colonies  of  Massachusetts  and 
Plymouth,  together  with  Maine,  Nova  Scotia,  and  such  coun- 
try as  was  included  between  them,  were  to  constitute  the  Prov- 
ince of  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  governor,  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor and  secretary  were  to  be  named  by  the  king  for  an 
indefinite  period.  The  legislative  department  consisted  of 
a  council  of  twenty-eight,  named  at  first  by  the  king,  and  a 
house  of  representatives  made  up  of  deputies  elected  two 
by  each  town.  This  was  small  measure  for  the  people  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  name  the  governor,  assistants  and  dep- 
uties themselves.     In  the  Legislature,  so  made  up,  all  bills 


INDIAN   RAIDS.  Ill 

required  the  assent  of  the  governor  and  were  subject  also  to 
the  veto  of  the  king  within  three  years.  The  governor 
was  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia  and  had  the  appoint- 
ment of  military  officers.  He  had  also  the  appointment  of 
all  judges  and  officers  of  justice,  subject  to  confirmation  by 
the  council.  The  qualification  for  the  ballot  was  no  longer  re- 
ligious, but  depended  on  property.  Liberty  of  conscience  was 
granted  to  all  Protestants.  In  certain  cases  appeal  lay  to  the 
king  in  council  in  England.  This  charter  took  more  away 
from  the  independency  of  the  colonies  than  had  been  de- 
manded of  them  by  Charles  II. 

The  French  and  Indian  wars  continued  with  much  vigor 
on  the  frontier  to  the  north  and  with  slight  abatements  for 
half  a  century.  Being  nearest  to  Canada,  Maine  and  New 
Hampshire  were  by  far  the  most  exposed  of  all  the  New 
England  colonies,  more,  even,  than  New  York  ;  for  at  the  very 
north  of  the  line  of  towns  on  the  Hudson  which  made  up 
that  colony  stood  Albany,  far  too  formidable  to  fear  any 
slight  Indian  raids  such  as  desolated  the  border  country  of 
New  England.  Even  in  the  time  of  Andros  the  French  had 
made  such  common  cause  with  the  Indians  of  Maine,  that 
the  governor  had  been  forced  to  make  an  expedition  against 
them  ;  and  after  the  Revolution,  at  the  approach  of  war  be- 
tween France  and  England,  the  fury  and  vigor  of  this  frontier 
warfare  increased.  Count  Frontenac  was  at  this  time  at  the 
head  of  affairs  in  Canada  ;  a  strong  and  able  old  man,  well 
used  to  handling  the  Indians,  and  as  capable  of  doing  what 
could  be  done  in  his  position  as  any  governor  New  France 
ever  had. 

The  capture  of  York,  January  25,  1692,  is  a  good  example 
of  the  fearful  sufferings  of  attackers  and  attacked  in  this  bor- 
der warfare.  A  hundred  and  fifty  converted  Indians,  urged 
on  by  the  French  priests,  took  the  war-path  in  the  dead  of  win- 
ter, well  provided  with  guns  and  ammunition.  After  a  long 
and  terrible  march  they  neared  York,  one  of  the  frontier  set- 
tlements, a  town  of  perhaps  then  a  few  hundred  inhabitants. 
The  morning  after  their  arrival  a  heavy  snow  fell.     Surround- 


y  ^^iZtL 


112  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

ing  the  village  early  in  the  evening  they  attacked  it  from  both 
sides.  One  party  rushed  into  the  block  house,  where  the 
women  were  gathered,  others  ran  through  the  other  houses,  kill- 
ing or  taking  captive  all  whom  they  met.  About  a  hundred 
of  both  sexes  were  killed,  about  eighty  were  taken  into  cap- 
tivity, and  the  rest  fled  into  two  or  three  fortified  houses,  where 
they  were  not  attacked.  The  Indians  shortly  after  withdrew, 
and  after  setting  the  town  on  fire,  and  destroying  all  the  farm- 
houses and  cattle  in  the  fields  around,  took  up  their  march 
into  the  forest  with  their  booty.  Such  terrors  were  not  uncom- 
mon in  Maine  or  New  Hampshire.  There  were  many  more 
atrocious  massacres,  many  more  vigorous  defenses  ;  but  this  is 
a  fair  illustration  of  the  terrors  of  frontier  life  at  this  time  and 
for  many  years.  The  reader  knows  that  New  Hampshire  was 
now  no  part  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  the  claims 
of  Mason  having  been  declared  valid  by  the  law  officers  of 
England.  New  Hampshire  was,  therefore,  a  proprietary  prov- 
ince, the  proprietor  at  this  time  being  Samuel  Allen,  who 
had  purchased  the  title  from  Mason.  He  received  the.  royal 
commission  as  governor,  but  the  government  of  the  province 
was  organized  by  John  Usher,  who  had  been  appointed  Lieu- 
tenant-governor. 

The  first  proceeding  of  the  Provincial  Government  of 
Massachusetts  was  one  whose  consequences  have  covered  the 
Commonwealth  with  an  undeserved  infamy.  We  refer  to  the 
court  commissioned  by  Phips  to  try  the  witchcraft  cases. 
The  belief  in  witchcraft  in  those  days  was  in  every  Christian 
country  well-nigh  universal.  In  England,  not  long  before 
this,  witches  in  considerable  numbers  had  suffered  death  by 
fire,  and  in  New  England  there  had  been  three  or  four  exe- 
cutions for  the  same  cause  before  the  breaking  out  of  what  is 
generally  known  as  "  the  Witchcraft  Delusion."  The  people 
of  that  day  saw  much  that  was  supernatural  in  the  phenom- 
ena of  this  world;  they  solved  a  portion  of  the  mystery  by 
ascribing  it  to  the  devil  and  his  agents,  finding  authority  in 
their  interpretation  of  Scripture.  During  the  usurpation  of 
Andros    there    had   been    a   case   of  witchcraft    in   Boston, 


SALEM   WITCHCRAFT.  113 

wherein  a  wretched  Irish  woman,  on  the  evidence  of  four 
young  children  whom  she  was  supposed  to  mysteriously  tor- 
ture, was  tried,  condemned,  and  executed.  Cotton  Mather, 
one  of  the  leading  ministers  of  the  colony,  though  at  that 
time  still  young,  became  intensely  interested  in  the  case,  and 
his  credulous  excitment  aroused  the  feelings  of  the  people. 
Some  three  or  four  years  afterward,  in  "  Salem  Village," 
another  case  occurred.  The  children  of  Samuel  Parris,  the 
clergyman  of  "  Salem  Village,"  became  greatly  affected 
through  the  evil  agency  of  witches.  They  underwent  pullings 
and  pinchings  and  prickings  ;  they  cried  out,  imitating  the 
noises  of  dogs  or  cats;  they  were  thrown  into  convulsions  and 
spasms.  They  interrupted  public  worship  by  their  cries.  The 
case  was  inquired  into  and  they  confessed  that  they  had  been 
bewitched,  and  finally  named  three  old  women  as  the  causes 
of  their  afflictions.  The  accused  were  at  once  examined  and 
committed  to  jail  for  trial.  The  children  cried  out  against 
some  others,  women  of  most  excellent  character.  Many 
other  accusations  followed.  Among  those  arrested  were 
Burroughs,  a  minister,  English,  a  well-to-do  merchant,  Mill- 
ard, the  constable,  who  had  arrested  some  of  the  earlier 
witches,  but  who  was  now  convinced  of  his  error.  These 
were  all  lodged  in  jail  with  others,  making  nearly  a  hundred 
in  number  at  the  arrival  of  the  royal  governor. 

Phips  at  once,  with  no  especial  authority  for  so  doing, 
constituted  a  special  commission  for  the  trial  of  the  accused. 
William  Stoughton,  a  bigoted  and  narrow  man,  was  made  the 
chief  justice.  The  court  at  once  organized  and  proceeded  to 
its  work.  Bridget  Bishop  was  tried,  and  shortly  hanged.  A 
month  later  five  more  women  were  executed.  At  the  next 
session  six  were  condemned  and  hanged,  among  them  Bur- 
roughs, the  minister,  and  during  the  next  month  nine  more 
were  executed.  All  this  was  done  at  Salem.  The  epidemic 
had  not  as  yet  spread  farther.  But  in  the  autumn  many  at 
Andover  were  accused.  The  charge  of  witchcraft  ran  riot 
through  Essex  County.  Over  four  hundred  persons  had 
been  "  cried  out  "  upon.     Of  these  some  had  saved  them- 


114  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

selves  by  confession,  some  were  in  jail  awaiting  trial,  and  many 
more  were  under  accusation.  Twenty  had  been  executed. 
Nor  did  the  brute  creation  escape  the  infection.  Two  dogs 
had  been  found  guilty  of  acting  as  accomplices  in  the  crime 
and  had  paid  the  extreme  penalty.  But  the  end  of  such 
absurdities  was  near.  Accusations  were  made  of  persons 
high  in  position  and  of  known  purity  of  life.  Mrs.  Hale,  the 
wife  of  the  minister  of  Beverly,  and  even  Lady  Phips  were 
suspected.  But  at  this  time  the  special  commission  had 
adjourned  for  two  months.  Before  it  could  convene  again,  the 
General  Court  had  met  and  had  arranged  the  regular  legal 
establishment  according  to  the  charter.  This  court  pro- 
ceeded more  slowly.  Only  a  few  of  the  presentments  were 
followed  up.  Only  a  few  of  these  accused  were  found  guilty, 
and  all  the  condemned  were  pardoned.  The  public  mind 
began  to  see  the  delusion  it  had  labored  under.  It  began  to 
be  clear  to  sensible  persons  that  they  had  been  cruelly  mis- 
taken, in  following  as  far  as  they  had  done  the  wicked  fancies 
of  children  and  their  credulous  relations.  The  witchcraft 
delusion  was  over.  Many  of  those  prominent  in  it  recog- 
nized their  error  and  confessed  their  failing  with  true  grief 
of  heart.  Some  were  still  firm,  but  the  general  feeling  of  the 
community  was  as  though  men  had  been  delivered  from  a 
nightmare. 

The  administration  of  Sir  William  Phips  was  by  no  means 
successful.  He  quarreled  with  every  one,  was  recalled  in 
1694  to  answer  complaints,  and  died  the  next  year.  Stough- 
ton,  the  lieutenant-governor,  was  at  the  head  of  the  admin- 
istration for  some  time,  and  was  shortly  after  succeeded  by 
the  Earl  of  Bellomont,  who  was  in  time  succeeded  by  Joseph 
Dudley,  the  former  president  of  the  country.  During  his 
administration  and  those  immediately  following  almost  the 
only  point  to  be  noted  by  the  general  reader,  is  a  long-con- 
tinued quarrel  between  succeeding  governors  and  assemblies. 
The  governors,  in  accordance  with  their  instructions,  always 
demanded  a  fixed  salary.  The  Assembly  invariably  refused 
such  a  concession  and  forced  each  governor  to  content  him- 


CONNECTICUT  AND    RHODE   ISLAND.  I  I  5 

self  with  yearly  grants  of  such  sums  as  seemed  good  to  them. 
The  governor  desired  to  be  independent.  The  assemblies 
desired  to  have  some  control  over  him.  The  point  of  princi- 
ple involved  was  that  a  fixed  grant  would  be  in  the  nature 
of  a  tax  imposed  by  another  authority,  and  to  this  they  were 
unwilling  to  submit.  The  assemblies  insisted  on  their  right  —  ^ 
to  tax  themselves  and  grant  their  own  money  as  they  chose. 
The  time  was  taken  up  in  perpetual  broils  and  bickerings. 

Such  was,  fortunately,  not  the  condition  of  Connecticut, 
whose  history,  however,  through  this  period  is  not  more 
eventful  than  that  of  Massachusetts.  On  the  accession  of 
William  and  Mary  the  colony  sent  a  congratulatory  address 
and  requested  a  confirmation  of  its  charter,  which  had  been 
revoked  in  a  less  formal  manner  than  that  of  Massachusetts. 
No  answer  was  given  to  this  request,  and  Connecticut  con- 
tinued to  exist  very  happily  under  her  old  charter,  by  which 
she  had  more  measure  of  liberty  than  was  granted  in  Massa-  Ll~ 
chusetts.  The  colonists  enjoyed  a  government  wholly  their 
own,  there  were  no  royal  nominees  to  quarrel  with  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people,  and  the  administration  of  the  col- 
ony was  carried  on  quietly  and  successfully.  Connecticut 
was  spared  the  misery  of  the  Indian  inroads  which  desolated 
the  frontier  towns  to  the  north-east  and  north-west.  Her 
inhabitants  had  but  little  connection  with  the  Indian  wars  on 
this  account,  and  knew  nothing  of  such  misfortunes  as  the 
failure  of  the  expedition  to  Quebec.  We  should  not  neglect 
to  note  the  foundation  in   1701  of  Yale  College. 

The  history  of  their  neighbors  in  Rhode  Island  was  not  so 
peaceful.  The  people  had  not  had  so  much  pleasure  in  the 
revolution,  for  the  firm  and  arbitrary  rule  of  Andros  had 
been  a  not  unpleasant  change  from  the  constant  quarrelings 
among  themselves  which  had  previously  gone  on.  They 
resumed  their  charter,  which  they  had  given  up,  and  it  served 
them  very  well  for  all  practical  purposes,  even  down  so 
far  as  1840.  There  were  constant  quarrels  between  them 
and  their  neighbors.  Phips  differed  with  them  in  regard  to 
their  militia,  which   he  pretended  to  have  the  right  to  com- 


Il6  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

mand.  Connecticut  quarreled  about  the  boundary  line. 
Bellomont,  who  had  the  extermination  of  piracy  at  heart, 
found  much  to  complain  of  in  Rhode  Island,  whose  deeply 
indented  shore  offered  most  convenient  resort  for  buccaneers. 
All  over  the  coast  of  Rhode  Island  are  places  where  men  say 
that  "  Kidd  buried  his  treasure."  Indeed,  the  Rhode  Island- 
ers at  this  time  had  no  very  good  reputation  on  the  high 
seas.  The  vessels  commissioned  as  privateers  in  the  late  war 
with  France  had,  it  was  charged,  been  nothing  better  than 
pirates  sailing  on  their  cruises  to  "  Madagascar  and  the  seas 
of  India,"  as  Bellomont  remarked,  by  whose  booty  the  place 
had  "  been  greatly  enriched."  The  Rhode  Islanders  were 
not  vigorous  in  the  Indian  wars,  from  which  they  suffered  lit- 
tle, alleging  their  danger  from  attack  by  sea ;  but  when,  in 
1740,  the  expedition  to  Jamaica  was  set  on  foot,  they  were  by 
no  means  unwilling  to  furnish  men  and  vessels  for  what 
seemed  at   first   to   be   a  congenial  occupation. 

The  most  important  of  the  military  proceedings  of  the 
New  England  colonies  during  this  period  was  the  capture  of 
Louisburg,  the  French  stronghold  in  the  Island  of  Cape 
Breton.  In  1744  the  French  seized  the  English  settlement 
at  Canseau  and  threatened  Annapolis,  which  had  then  for  a 
long  time  been  in  English  hands.  They  carried  their  prison- 
ers to  Louisburg.  On  their  return  on  parole  the  prisoners 
gave  word  to  Shirley,  then  governor  of  Massachusetts,  of  the 
weakness  of  the  place.  Shirley  decided  to  attempt  its  cap- 
ture. The  Legislature  upheld  him,  though  by  a  majority  of 
one  only.  An  army  was  rapidly  made  up.  Connecticut 
and  New  Hampshire  sent  men  to  join  the  Massachusetts 
levies.  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  sent  a  small  store  of 
provisions  and  ammunition.  The  expedition,  one  hundred 
vessels  and  nearly  four  thousand  men,  reached  Cape  Breton 
about  the  end  of  April,  1745,  and  was  there  joined  by  an 
English  squadron,  under  Commodore  Warren,  which  was  of 
great  service  throughout  the  siege  in  keeping  away  such  rein- 
forcements as  were  sent  from  France.  A  landing  was 
effected  near  Louisburg  on  the  last  day  of  April. 


LOUISBURG  TAKEN.  WJ 

The  town  was  a  fortified  place  of  great  strength,  though 
not  well  garrisoned.  The  walls  were  more  than  twenty  feet 
high  and  twice  as  thick  at  the  base,  and  mounted  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three  pieces  of  ordnance.  Besides  these 
there  was  an  island  battery  defending  the  harbor  with  thirty 
guns.  The  garrison  consisted  of  sixteen  hundred  men,  of 
whom  only  a  third  were  regular  soldiers,  the  others  being 
country  militia.  The  New  Englanders  had  little  or  no 
knowledge  of  war  in  general,  or  of  siege  operations  in  par- 
ticular. Their  commander  was  William  Pepperell,  a  merchant, 
and  their  officers  were  all  volunteers  chosen  from  among 
the  soldiers,  and  having  no  more  knowledge  of  arms  than 
their  men.  They  had  but  eighteen  cannon  and  three  mortars. 
But,  forcing  a  landing  with  great  vigor,  they  established  them- 
selves before  the  town,  compelling  the  French  to  desert  an 
important  outpost  of  which  they  at  once  seized  the  guns. 
They  undertook  no  scientific  siege  works,  but  erected  bat- 
teries on  the  land  side  of  the  city,  and  encamped  in  the  open 
air,  having  no  tents.  With  various  fortunes  the  siege  contin- 
ued. It  was  finally  decided  to  attempt  to  storm  the  walls 
while  the  fleet  kept  up  a  vigorous  bombardment.  At  this 
moment  a  French  man-of-war  sailed  into  the  harbor  with 
military  supplies  and  was  at  once  captured  by  the  English 
fleet  before  the  eyes  of  the  town.  The  effect  was  good  for 
the  New  Englanders.  The  place  capitulated  on  the  17th  of 
June,  a  day  or  two  afterward.  On  entering  the  town  the 
victors  were  amazed  at  seeing  the  strength  of  the  place.  This 
was  a  great  and  mighty  achievement  for  New  England.  The 
French  endeavored  to  recover  it,  but  without  success.  At 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  however,  when  peace  was  made  Louisburg 
was  restored,  greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  the  vigorous 
colonists,  who  had  spent  such  efforts  in  its  capture. 


Il8  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  Southern  Colonies  from   1700-1754. 

Position  of  Virginia — Exploring  Spirit  of  Alexander  Spotswood — Knighted 
by  George  I. — Dinwiddie  as  Governor — Condition  of  Maryland  and 
the  Carolinas — Religious  Difficulties — Resources  of  the  Carolinas — 
Pirates — English  Settlements  —Oglethorpe's  Plan  for  a  Colony — Ger- 
man Emigrants — The  Colonial  Laws — War  With  Spain— Attack  on 
St.  Augustine — Oglethorpe  Returns  to  England — Georgia  Becomes  a 
Royal  Province. 

VIRGINIA,  as  well  as  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania, 
possessed  one  advantage  over  her  neighbors  to 
the  north  and  south.  From  the  Indian  war  in  Bacon's 
time  until  Braddock's  defeat  near  Fort  Duquesne  she  en- 
joyed uninterrupted  peace.  The  power  of  the  Indians  with- 
in her  borders  was  utterly  broken.  There  were  no  French 
on  her  frontiers,  as  with  New  York  and  New  England;  there 
were  no  Spaniards,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Carolinas  and 
Georgia  ;  nor  was  the  colony  of  such  a  character  as  to  invite 
attack  in  any  one  of  England's  continental  wars  during  these 
years.  Virginia  presented  no  definite  point  of  attack,  and  no 
expeditions  were  made  against  her.  The  population  had  in- 
creased, material  prosperity  had  long  since  begun,  the  gov- 
ernors were,  on  the  whole,  of  a  worthy  character,  and  the  lot 
of  the  colony  was  comparatively  happy.  The  only  jars  came 
from  the  constant  and  petty  quarrels  of  the  burgesses  with 
the  governor  on  matters  of  small  moment.  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  the  position  of  the  burgesses  in  this  respect  had 
a  good  effect  in  training  the  people  to  political  thoughtfulness. 
Alexander  Spotswood,  who  came  to  Virginia  as  deputy- 
governor*  in  1 710,  was  of  Scotch  parentage  and  trained  in 

*  Lord  Orkney  was  titular  governor  from    1704-1744,  but    he   remained  in  England,  re- 
ceiving £1,200  as  profit  for  so  doing.     The  governing  was  done  by  others. 


SIR  ALEXANDER   SPOTSWOOD.  1 19 

the  English  army.  He  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  best 
of  the  colonial  governors,  his  thoughts  given  to  the  welfare 
of  the  province,  for  which  he  did  much  in  various  ways, 
although  the  people  were  by  no  means  always  ready  to  adopt 
his  proposals.  His  mind,  "  so  long  engaged  in  the  immense 
field  of  European  politics,"  could  not  rest  within  the  narrow 
boundaries  set  by  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  to  the  Virginia 
planters,  and  he  often  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  broad  region 
beyond  the  Alleghanies,  at  this  time  unknown  and  unexplored 
by  white  men.  He  resolved  to  do  something  in  the  way  of 
exploration,  and  easily  gathered  together  a  party  of  the  choice 
spirits  of  the  Old  Dominion  with  whom  he  set  forth  to  cross 
the  mountains  and  see  the  country  beyond.  They  crossed 
the  Blue  Ridge  and,  it  is  said,  the  Alleghanies  beyond,  and 
descended  into  the  fertile  country  of  Kentucky,  with  which 
they  were  delighted.  They  returned,  with  glowing  accounts 
of  the  region,  "  to  recount  their  discoveries  to  those  who  had 
not  in  person  enjoyed  them."  Spotswood  was  knighted  by 
George  I.  as  a  reward  for  this  proceeding,  and  was  given  as 
a  coat  of  arms  a  golden  horseshoe  with  the  motto,  "  Sic  jurat 
transcendere  montes."  And  tradition  runs  that  at  Williams- 
burg was  then  founded  the  order  known  as  the  "  Knights  of 
the  Golden  Horseshoe,"  though  neither  history  nor  fable  has 
further  account  of  the  matter. 

In  1723  Spotswood  was  superseded  and  retired  to  his 
plantations  in  Spotsylvania.  He  was  followed  by  Drysdale, 
and  he  by  Gooch,  under  whose  government  the  province  fared 
well.  In  1752  Robert  Dinwiddie  was  sent  out;  he  acted  as 
deputy-governor  for  six  years.  He  was  an  energetic  and 
zealous  man,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  his  abilities  were 
great  or  that  his  proceedings  were  always  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. He  was  by  no  means  regretted  when  he  retired.  As 
soon  as  he  arrived  he  got  into  difficulties  with  the  burgesses, 
with  whom  he  was,  to  begin  with,  unpopular  through  former 
proceedings  as  collector  of  customs.  But  the  chief  matter  of 
note  in  Dinwiddie's  administration  is  the  beginning  of  active 
relations  with  the  great  western  country.     Dinwiddie  by  no 


^^urc^    * 


1 20  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

means  followed  Spotswood  in  his  romantic  ride  with  the 
Knights  of  the  Golden  Horseshoe,  but  others  passed  the 
mountains  at  first  for  trade  and  exploration.  The  Virginia 
traders  swarmed  across  the  mountains  to  traffic  with  the  In- 
dians and  there  met  with  the  French,  with  results  which  will 
be  stated  in  another  chapter. 

In  Maryland  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  was 
one  of  decline.  The  proprietary  had  been  displaced  after 
the  Revolution  and  the  colony  had  been  taken  by  the  crown. 
The  result  was  that  the  toleration  which  had  so  long  existed 
in  the  colony  was  for  a  time  at  an  end.  The  Anglican  Church 
was  established  by  law,  and  taxes  were  laid  for  its  mainte- 
nance. In  addition  to  this,  although  other  Protestant  sects 
were  tolerated,  Roman  Catholics  and  Quakers  were  severely 
used.  These  two  elements  were  strong  in  the  colony,  and  the 
effect  of  the  royal  policy  was  not  good.  In  17 15  the  then 
Lord  Baltimore  became  a  Protestant,  and  the  proprietary 
rights  were  vested,  at  his  death,  in  his  son.  For  a  long  time 
after  his,  some  forty  years  or  so,  events  in  Maryland  passed 
smoothly.  As  in  Virginia,  there  were  no  Indian  wars  nor  fear 
of  foreign  disturbance,  and  the  only  difficulties  arose  from 
the  disagreements  between  the  governors  and  the  Assembly. 

In  the  history  of  the  Carolinas  in  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century  it  is  difficult  to  fix  upon  any  leading  prin- 
ciple. The  government  of  the  Quaker  Archdale,  in  1695-6, 
had  been  most  satisfactory  to  all  concerned,  and  in  the  years 
immediately  following  the  good  relations  between  the  colony 
and  its  neighbors  and  its  proprietors  had  not  been  disturbed. 
In  the  opening  years  of  the  next  century,  however,  certain 
tendencies  and  desires  were  manifest  among  the  proprietors 
and  their  adherents  which  promised  disturbance.  The  mat- 
ter of  religious  toleration  seemed  as  though  it  might  prove  a 
stumbling-block.  Immediately  after  Archdale's  departure 
liberty  of  conscience  had  been  decreed  to  all  forms  of  Chris- 
tians save  Romanists.  In  1704,  by  means  of  political  chi- 
canery an  act  was  passed  in  the  Assembly  whereby  all 
dissenters  from  the  Church  of  England  were  disfranchised, 


THE  CAROLINAS.  121 

and  political  power  was  reserved  to  those  who  would  conform 
to  that  Church.  The  proprietors  were  well  pleased  to  assent 
to  this  plan.  Not  so  ready,  however,  were  the  colonists  them- 
selves ;  for  two  thirds  of  them  were  non-conformists,  and 
such  a  majority  could  by  no  means  see  with  complacency 
such  an  absolute  disfranchisement  of  themselves.  They  ap- 
pealed to  England,  having  small  success  with  the  proprie- 
taries, and  received  some  redress.  The  acts  were  declared 
void  by  the  crown  and  were  repealed.  The  result  of  the 
proceedings,  however,  was  that  the  Church  of  England  be- 
came and  remained  the  established  Church  in  the  province. 

Besides  the  religious  troubles  there  were  political  disturb- 
ances. At  one  time  there  were  in  existence  in  North  Caro- 
lina two  distinct  governments,  one  claiming  power  from  the 
people,  the  other  from  the  proprietaries.  Civil  war  was  im- 
minent, and  the  proprietary  governor  called  for  assistance 
from  the  royal  governor  of  Virginia.  No  open  outbreak  took 
place,  however,  but  it  became  evident  that  the  proprietors 
and  the  people  could  not  live  together  peaceably.  The  con- 
tinual conflict  was  not  wholly  ended  when,  in  1729,  the  pro- 
prietors sold  their  rights  to  the  crown. 

In  spite  of  these  quarrels  and  factions  the  two  colonies  in- 
creased largely  in  prosperity.  In  South  Carolina  the  suc- 
cessful cultivation  of  the  rice  plant  brought  wealth  to  the 
colony,  as  well  as  many  Negro  slaves,  whose  services  were 
necessary  and  pleasing  to  the  planters.  In  North  Carolina 
this  staple  did  not  so  largely  flourish  ;  but  here  the  forests  of 
pine  afforded  occupation  to  many  of  the  inhabitants.  Masts 
and  timber,  tar  and  turpentine  were  profitable  commodities. 
The  hunters  on  the  frontiers  obtained  large  numbers  of  val- 
uable furs,  for  which  they  found  a  ready  sale.  A  romantic 
aspect  is  cast  over  the  history  of  the  country  by  the  constant 
appearance  of  pirates  on  the  shores.  They  made  their  head- 
quarters on  the  coasts  of  North  Carolina,  where  they  not  in- 
frequently were  in  partnership  with  the  authorities.  Of  these 
marauders  the  most  famous   was   the    notorious   Ned  Teach, 

who   was    known    by    the    title    of    Blackbeard.     Benjamin 
6 


122  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Franklin,  in  Boston,  is  the  chief  means  of  preserving  for  pos- 
terity the  fame  of  this  terrible  freebooter.  Among  his  earliest 
feats  was  the  composition  and  printing  of  the  Ballad  of 
Blackboard,  of  which,  unfortunately,  little  is  known  by  an- 
tiquarians. The  desperate  character  of  the  buccaneer  is  well 
expressed  in  the  following  lines,  which  are,  perhaps,  from 
Franklin's  ballad.  Teach  gives  his  orders  in  case  of  capture 
by  royal  ships  : 

"  And  when  we  no  longer  can  strike  a  blow, 
Then  fire  the  magazine,  boys,  and  up  we  go. 
'Tis  better  to  swim  in  the  sea  below 
Than  to  hang  in  the  air  and  feed  the  crow, 
Said  jolly  Ned  Teach,  of  Bristol." 

Teach's  real  name  is  said  by  some  to  have  been  John  rather 
than  Ned.  His  character  seems  to  have  been  vicious  and 
revolting.  It  is  related  that  his  favorite  amusement  was  to 
personate  "  a  fiend  for  the  entertainment  of  his  crew,"  and 
that  he  "  once  gave  them  a  scenic  display  intended  to  repre- 
sent the  regions  of  the  damned."  His  ship  was  engaged  by 
an  English  man-of-war  in  1718,  and  he  himself  was  killed  in 
the  action. 

The  English  settlements  at  this  time  extended  along  the 
American  coast  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Savannah  River. 
The  English  claimed  farther — as  far  as  the  St.  John's. 

Just  south  of  this  was  the  Spanish  colony  of  St.  Augustine, 
the  oldest  on  the  continent.  But  about  the  year  1732  it  was 
resolved  to  settle  the  country  between  the  Savannah  and  the 
St.  John's  rivers  for  reasons  of  various  kinds. 

First  of  all  it  was  thought  well  to  have  a  species  of  military 
colony  as  a  barrier  between  South  Carolina  and  the  Span- 
iards. This  wish  fell  in  well  with  a  scheme  fprmed  by 
James  Oglethorpe.  This  man,  an  English  gentleman  of  po- 
sition, holding  high  rank  in  the  army,  and  a  member  of  Par- 
liament, was  a  philanthropist  of  the  noblest  nature.  He  had 
served  on  a  commission  for  examining  into  the  jails  of  En- 
gland, and  had  there  seen  such  horrors  that  all  his  sympathies 
had  been  aroused,  and  principally   for  those   who  were  con- 


• 


GEORGIA.  123 

fined  for  debt.  At  this  time  in  England,  as  well  as  elsewhere, 
the  remedy  for  debt  was  imprisonment  until  payment  could 
be  made.  The  debtors'  prisons  were  crowded  with  men  who 
had  committed  no  crime  save  that  of  being  either  unfortunate 
or  unfit  for  the  competitions  of  business.  For  these  Ogle- 
thorpe conceived  the  idea  of  founding  a  colony  in  America. 
He  heard,  too,  with  indignation,  of  the  sufferings  of  not  a  few 
Protestants  in  the  Catholic  countries  of  the  continent  of 
Europe,  and  to  these  also  he  offered  the  shelter  of  his 
colony. 

A  charter  was  granted  in  1732,  a  board  of  trustees  was  ap- 
pointed guardian,  for  twenty-one  years,  of  the  province,  which 
was  to  be  named  Georgia,  after  George  II.,  and  they  were  to 
hold  it  "  in  trust  for  the  poor."  These  trustees  were  given 
the  power  to  appoint  the  Legislature  and  judiciary.  The  land 
was  to  be  open  to  all  save  Romanists. 

In  the  month  of  November  Oglethorpe  set  sail  with  the 
first  band  of  emigrants  for  Charleston.  Staying  there  but  a 
short  time  he  proceeded  southward  to  the  Savannah  River, 
and  here,  about  ten  miles  from  the  sea,  he  established  a  town 
on  high  ground  and  gave  to  it  the  same  name  as  that  of  the 
stream.  Affairs  were  successfully  started.  The  streets  were 
regularly  laid  out  and  small  houses  were  built.  The  Indians 
appeared  on  the  scene  and  welcomed  Oglethorpe  to  such 
land  as  they  did  not  themselves  want.  With  them  Oglethorpe 
signed  a  treaty,  and  he  always  treated  them  with  great  justice 
in  his  subsequent  dealings  with  them. 

At  first  the  colony  seemed  to  prosper.  The  second  year, 
1734,  the  settlers  were  reinforced  by  a  colony  of  German 
Protestants,  who  having  been  driven  out  of  the  dominions  of 
the  Bishop  of  Salzburg,  had  been  invited  over  to  Georgia 
with  liberal  offers  of  land,  subsistence  for  a  year,  and  tolerance 
in  matters  of  religion.  They  reached  Charleston  in  May  and 
went  on  to  Savannah,  where  they  encamped  until  they  should 
find  a  residence  ;  but  shortly  they  settled  themselves  at  a 
place  to  which  they  gave  the  name  Ebenezer.  The  same 
year  the  town  of  Augusta  was  settled. 


"> 


124  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 

In  the  summer  Oglethorpe  sailed  for  England.  In  his  ab- 
sence certain  discontents  arose  which  had  been  concealed 
before,  and  on  his  return  the  colonists  presented  demands 
for  the  abolition  of  those  laws  which  they  thought  very  preju- 
dicial to  the  advancement  of  the  colony.  In  the  first  place, 
there  was  a  law  that  there  should  be  no  rum  imported,  which 
cut  off  the  trade  with  the  West  India  Islands,  of  which  rum 
was  one  of  the  chief  productions.  In  the  second  place,  there 
was  a  law  against  Negro  slavery,  for  it  was  thought  best  that 
the  settlers  should  move  among  a  class  of  good  white  work- 
men. But  the  example  of  South  Carolina  was  pernicious.  In 
the  third  place,  the  land  was  granted  in  tail  male  only;  where- 
by it  could  not  easily  be  transferred,  which  caused  a  good 
deal  of  discontent. 

Oglethorpe  on  his  return  brought  with  him  a  good  rein- 
forcement of  settlers.  More  Moravians  came  over  to  join 
those  who  had  previously  arrived.  A  settlement  of  Scotch 
Highlanders  was  also  made  at  the  southern  part  of  the  colony, 
on  the  Altamaha  River.  With  Oglethorpe  came  also  John 
and  Charles  Wesley. 

Oglethorpe  in  a  short  time  began  a  journey  among  the  vari- 
ous towns  of  the  province.  Passing  southward  he  built  at 
Frederica  a  fort  to  protect  a  small  settlement  which  he  planted 
there.  From  this  place,  with  certain  of  the  Highlanders  from 
Darien,  the  settlement  just  above,  he  made  a  journey  farther 
south  to  mark  out  the  English  claims  for  a  frontier.  He 
planted  two  forts — one,  Fort  St.  Andrews,  on  Cumberland 
Island,  in  the  Altamaha;  the  other,  Fort  St.  George,  on  Amelia 
Island,  in  the  St.  John's.  But  this  last  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Returning  home  he  made  alliance  with  the  Chickasaws, 
whereby  the  southern  frontier  was  much  strengthened. 

A  year  or  two  after  war  broke  out  between  England  and 
Spain.  Georgia  was  the  only  one  of  the  American  colonies 
which  was  near  enough  the  Spanish  power  to  feel  any  effects 
from  it.  The  Spaniards  in  Florida  had  already  threatened 
Oglethorpe  and  his  colony,  though  he  had  managed  to  avert 
any  serious  danger.     But  in  1739  war  was  declared.     Rather 


SIEGE   OF   ST.   AUGUSTINE.  12$ 

than  wait  for  an  attack  Oglethorpe  resolved  to  take  the  offen- 
sive himself.  He  had,  on  his  last  return  from  England, 
brought  with  him  a  regiment  of  six  hundred  men,  recruited 
especially  for  colonial  service,  and  now,  with  additions  from 
the  Carolina  militia  and  with  various  Indian  allies,  he  started 
an  expedition  against' St.  Augustine.  But  the  place  was  too 
strong  and  too  well  garrisoned  for  him  to  do  any  thing,  and 
he  was  compelled  to  withdraw  into  Georgia,  whither,  a  year 
or  two  after,  the  Spaniards  followed  him.  In  July,  1742,  a 
fleet  of  thirty-six  vessels,  containing  forces  from  Cuba, 
entered  the  St.  Mary's  to  capture  Frederica.  The  English 
had  no  great  force  and  were  compelled  to  abandon  their 
camp  and  gather  into  the  town.  For  three  weeks  there  was 
fighting  in  which  the  Spaniards  had  decidedly  the  disad- 
vantage.    Toward  the  end  of  the  month  they  withdrew. 

The  next  year  Oglethorpe  returned  to  England,  where  he 
remained,  never  coming  back  to  Georgia.  Affairs  did  not 
go  so  well  after  he  had  gone,  and  in  his  absence  the  laws  on 
which  he  had  laid  especial  stress  were  suffered  to  fall  into 
disuse.  Slaves  were  imported,  and  rum  also,  and  the  male 
entail  was  gradually  dropped.  The  government  after  his  de- 
parture went  on  for  eight  years  under  a  president  and  four 
assistants  appointed  by  the  trustees.  But  affairs  did  not  run 
very  smoothly,  and  in  1752  the  trustees  gave  up  their  charter 
to  the  government  and  Georgia  became  a  royal  province. 


126  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER  XII. . 

The  French  and  Indian  War. 

The  Four  Divisions — Expeditions  Against  the  French — Affairs  in  the 
West — George  Washington — Border  Fighting — Braddock's  Defeat — 
William  Johnson — Defeat  of  the  French  at  Champlain — An  Expedi- 
tion Planned  Against  Fort  Niagara — The  Succession  of  English 
Commanders — Capture  of  Oswego — Siege  and  Surrender  of  Fort 
William  Henry — William  Pitt — Admiral  Boscowen  Arrives  with 
Re-enforcements — Capture  of  Louisburg — Fort  Frontenac  and  Fort 
Duquesne— Death  of  Lord  Howe — Repulse  of  the  English  at  Ticon- 
deroga — English  Plans — The  Fall  of  Quebec — Surrender  of  Montreal 
End  of  the  War. 

THE  "  Seven  Years'  War"  is,  as  has  been  said,  generally 
called  the  "  French  and  Indian  War  "  by  the  early 
American  writers.  In  tracing  its  history  it  is  well  to  remem- 
ber the  four  lines  on  which  attack  and  defense  were  made. 
The  French  and  English  in  America  were  separated  by  a 
wild  barrier  of  forests  and  mountains.  It  was  only  where 
this  natural  barrier  was  penetrated  by  some  natural  highway 
that  attack  could  be  readily  made  by  either  party.  Accord- 
ingly we  find  the  scenes  of  the  warfare  to  be  distributed  in 
four  divisions.  In  the  first  place,  at  the  junction  of  the  Alle- 
ghany and  Monongahela  rivers,  was  Fort  Duquesne,  the  key 
to  the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  The  headwaters  and  tributaries  of 
the  Potomac  and  the  Susquehanna  afforded  to  the  English  a 
means  of  passage  across  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  thus 
Fort  Duquesne  was  an  object  of  importance.  Again,  another 
natural  roadway  through  the  mountains  was  afforded  by  the 
Hudson  River,  dividing  at  Albany  into  two  distinct  paths;  the 
one  along  the  Mohawk  River,  pointing  west  toward  Oswego 
and  Niagara,  the  other  by  the  waters  of  Lake  Champlain,  ex- 
tending north  to  the  heart  of  Canada,  guarded   only  by  the 


FRENCH   ENCROACHMENTS.  \2J 

Forts  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point.  And,  once  more,  Can- 
ada was  approachable  by  sea,  and  the  River  St.  Lawrence 
afforded  access  to  the  citadel  of  Quebec.  On  these  four 
lines,  then,  was  the  battle  to  be  fought.  Twice  were  expedi- 
tions sent  by  the  English  against  Fort  Duquesne.  Forts 
Niagara  and  Frontenac  were  always  objects  of  attack.  Lake 
George  was  the  scene  of  constant  struggle,  and  Louisburg  and 
Quebec  eventually  succumbed  to  expeditions  sent  by  sea. 
Generally  the  English  took  the  offensive.  For  this  part  they 
had  some  advantages.  They  occupied  the  inside  frontiers 
with  ready  inter-communication  by  sea.  The  distance  be- 
tween Boston  and  Yorktown  was  nothing  compared  with  the 
distance  between  Quebec  and  Fort  Duquesne.  But  the 
French  position,  though  the  outside,  was  very  strong.  When 
the  English  reached  Fort  Duquesne  or  Fort  Frontenac  they 
found  nothing  but  a  fort  to  take ;  but  from  these  points  the 
French  had  been  able  to  strike  easily  the  frontier  settlements 
of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.  An  expedition  through  the 
woods  of  northern  New  England  against  Quebec  and  Mont- 
real would  have  been  nonsensical ;  yet  from  Quebec  and 
Montreal,  time  and  again,  war  parties  would  start  to  ravage 
the  frontier  towns  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire. 

It  was  in  the  West  that  the  settlers  first  came  into  conflict. 
The  valley  of  the  Ohio  had  proved  good  trading  ground,  and 
by  1754  the  English  had  become  well  accustomed  to  the 
road  thither.  Pickanillany,  an  Indian  village  on  the  Miami 
under  the  rule  of  the  chief  Old  Britain  (or  as  the  French 
called  him,  La  Demoiselle),  was  wholly  under  their  influence. 
But  France  had  accustomed  herself  to  look  on  the  broad 
region  between  Quebec  and  New  Orleans,  west  of  the  mount- 
ains, as  her  own  property.  True,  she  did  nothing  with  it  save 
erect  here  and  there  a  fort,  and  affix  here  and  there  the  arms 
of  Louis  XV.,  but  the  English  encroachments  on  it  were 
none  the  less  to  be  withstood.  So  it  was  at  this  point  that 
the  first  fighting  took  place.  There  was  no  declaration  of 
war,  but  each  side  was  in  earnest.  The  English  built  a  fort 
where  Pittsburg  now  stands.     The    French    captured    it,  de- 


128  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

molished  it,  and  built  a  new  one  which  they  named  after  their 
governor,  the  Marquis  Duquesne.  This  was  as  much  as  a 
declaration  of  war.  At  Wills  Creek  at  this  time  were  certain 
Virginia  troops  under  one  George  Washington.  Washington 
crossed  the  mountains,  hoping  to  be  able  to  collect  enough 
settlers  and  Indians  to  attack  the  fort.  At  some  little  distance 
from  Fort  Duquesne  the  party  fell  in  with  a  detachment  of 
French  under  Coulon  de  Jumonville.  A  skirmish  took  place 
in  which  Jumonville  was  killed  and  both  parties  retired. 
Expecting  to  be  attacked,  Washington  intrenched  himself  at 
"  Fort  Necessity."  And  here  the  French  came  against  him 
with  greatly  superior  force.  After  some  sharp  fighting  Wash- 
ington was  obliged  to  capitulate,  and  with  his  Virginians  was 
allowed  to  march  out  with  the  honors  of  war  and  retired  east 
of  the  Alleghanies.  The  first  point  had  been  gained  by  the 
French.  English  influence  west  of  the  Alleghanies  was  over- 
thrown. 

The  English  were  roused  to  action.  In  the  winter  of  1754— 
55  a  fierce  border  war  raged  along  the  western  settlements  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  In  the  spring  new  preparations 
were  made  for  the  capture  of  Fort  Duquesne.  Forces  had 
been  sent  out  from  England,  and  with  them  a  general.  Ed- 
ward Braddock  was  a  brave  officer  of  some  experience  in  war, 
but  knowing  little  of  the  manner  to  be  pursued  in  border 
fighting.  The  unhappy  result  of  the  expedition  which  he 
commanded  is  well  known.  Gathering  at  Wills  Creek  a 
considerable  force  of  English  regulars,  Virginia  troops,  with 
a  quantity  of  horses  and  wagons,  Braddock  began  his  ad- 
vance with  difficulty  through  the  forest.  There  were  con- 
tinual delays  and  difficulties.  Finally  Braddock  left  his 
impedimenta  in  the  rear  and  pressed  on  with  a  light  col- 
umn. 

The  expedition  was  sufficient  in  number  to  overawe  the 
French.  In  the  fort  the  ruling  opinion  was  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  retire.  But  finally  Contrecceur,  the  commander, 
at  the  instance  of  Captain  Beaujeu,  resolved  to  lay  an  am- 
buscade   for   the  English   as  they  forded  the  Monongahela. 


BRADDOCK S  DEFEAT.  1 29 

Beaujeu  was  in  command.  Although  the  English  had 
reached  the  ford  before  the  French  the  ambuscade  was  still 
made.  The  success  was  complete.  The  English  regulars, 
marching  in  ranks  as  if  on  parade,  presented  a  fair  mark  for 
the  bullets  of  the  French  and  Indians  who  lay  concealed  be- 
hind the  trees  in  front  and  on  each  side  of  them.  The  ad- 
vance guard  was  almost  destroyed,  and  when  the  main  body 
came  up  nothing  could  be  done  to  save  the  day.  The  regu- 
lars could  not  fight  as  the  occasion  demanded.  Some  little 
fighting  was  done  by  the  provincials  in  border  fashion,  but 
finally  the  British  turned  and  fled.  Braddock  was  severely 
wounded,  as  were  most  of  his  officers.  On  meeting  General 
Dunbar,  who  had  been  left  behind  with  the  baggage,  no  stop 
was  made,  but  the  retreat  continued.  Braddock  himself  died 
on  the  way  and  was  buried  in  the  woods,  while  the  army 
marched  over  his  grave,  that  it  might  not  be  found  by  the 
savages.  The  expedition  was  a  total  and  miserable  failure. 
The  French  still  held  the  West,  and  with  their  savage  allies 
they  still  made  barbarous  inroads  on  the  border  settle- 
ments. 

The  same  year  another  expedition  was  planned.  Lake 
George  (called  by  the  French  Lake  St.  Sacrament),  and  Lake 
Champlain,  with  the  River  Richelieu,  made  a  tempting  path- 
way to  Quebec.  The  French,  however,  commanded  it.  For 
some  years  Crown  Point  (as  the  English  called  Fort  Fred- 
erick) had  been  a  standing  menace  to  the  northern  colonies. 
An  expedition  was  planned  by  the  energetic  Shirley.  A  force 
of  three  thousand  provincial  troops  was  raised  and  the  com- 
mand given  to  William  Johnson,  afterward  knighted  for  his 
services.  This  man  was  chosen  chiefly  for  his  influence  over 
the  Indians,  which  was  great.  He  lived  in  a  fortified  house 
in  the  Mohawk  country  with  a  Dutch  wife,  and  was  known  as 
an  English  chief  throughout  the  Five  Nations.  But  he  was 
nothing  of  a  soldier.  The  provincial  force  gathered  at  Al- 
bany and  prepared  to  march  northward. 

The  French,  on  their  side,  had  no  notion  of  waiting  to  be 

attacked.     Baron  Dieskau,  a  German  officer  of  repute,  had 
6* 


130  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

command  of  the  forces  at  Crown  Point — some  thirty-five  hun- 
dred all  told  ;  French,  Canadians,  and  Indians.  These  last 
gave  him  some  trouble.  He  led  out  his  forces,  however,  and 
marched  down  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake  to  surprise  the 
English,  who  were  marching  slowly  northward  from  Albany. 
Both  sides  sent  out  scouting  parties,  who  were  constantly 
skirmishing.  Finally,  on  reaching  the  southern  end  of  the 
lake,  the  French  obtained  information  of  their  whereabouts 
and  prepared  an  ambush.  Johnson  had  with  him  at  this  time 
about  twenty-five  hundred,  of  whom  three  hundred  were 
Mohawk  Indians,  who  did  but  little  fighting.  The  English 
advance  party  of  about  a  thousand  men  fell  into  the  ambush, 
and  for  a  moment  it  seemed  as  though  they  must  be  utterly 
routed.  But  they  recovered  and  fell  back  in  fair  order  on 
the  camp  where  the  rest  of  the  English  lay  intrenched  be- 
hind a  rough  fortification  of  logs.  The  French  followed 
closely  and  the  battle  became  general.  The  English  re- 
ceived their  first  assault  behind  their  intrenchments.  Then 
a  charge  was  ordered  and  the  French  and  Indians  broke  and 
fled.     Dieskau  was  wounded  and  captured. 

This  was  a  success  as  far  as  it  went,  but  Johnson  did  not 
follow  up  his  advantage.  He  encamped  at  the  battlefield, 
where  he  occupied  himself  in  strengthening  the  fort  which  he 
named  William  Henry.  Here  he  stayed  until  November  27, 
when  the  greater  part  of  his  army  dispersed  to  their  homes. 
Little  was  gained  except  whatever  prestige  came  from  a  bar- 
ren victory. 

This  same  summer  an  expedition  was  planned  against  Fort 
Niagara.  Shirley,  with  a  considerable  force,  reached  the  En- 
glish fort  at  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario,  which  was  to  serve  as 
base  of  operations.  But  Fort  Frontenac,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  lake,  was  a  formidable  post  to  leave  in  the  rear,  and 
though  Shirley  had  some  thoughts  of  attempting  its  capture 
nothing  was  done.  He  returned  to  Albany  in  the  fall,  leaving 
seven  hundred  men  at  Oswego.  The  first  year  of  the  war 
had  not   resulted  very  successfully  for  the  English. 

The  next  year  war  was  formally  declared,  and  the  Marquis 


THE   CAMPAIGN   OF    1756.  131 

de  Montcalm  was  sent  out  to  command  the  French.  He  in- 
spired confidence  in  the  whole  colony.  Under  his  direction 
the  unfinished  fort  at  Ticonderoga  was  completed,  and  for 
some  time  stood  as  the  French  outpost  on  this  line  of  attack. 
Generals  were  also  sent  from  England.  Shirley,  who  was 
hard  at  work  planning  an  expedition  against  Frontenac  and 
Niagara,  was  ordered  to  resign  his  command  to  Colonel  Webb, 
who  was  to  come  from  England.  Webb  in  turn  was  to  turn 
the  command  over  to  General  Abercrombie,  who  was  to  fol- 
low him.  Abercrombie  was  to  give  up  the  command  to  the 
Earl  of  Loudon,  the  real  commander-in-chief.  The  reasons 
for  this  singular  arrangement  do  not  at  present  appear. 
Meanwhile,  none  of  his  successors  having  appeared,  Shirley 
carried  on  the  preparations  for  the  campaign  in  accordance 
with  his  own  ideas.  He  busied  himself  principally  in  looking 
after  Oswego,  the  proposed  base  for  operations  on  Lake  On- 
tario. In  the  meanwhile  an  expedition  under  the  command 
of  John  Winslow  was  set  on  foot  for  the  attack  of  Crown 
Point,  and  an  army  of  five  thousand  New  England  soldiers 
collected  at  Albany  for  that  purpose. 

There  was  much  done  early  in  the  season  with  a  view  to- 
ward strengthening  the  post  at  Oswego,  and  a  considerable 
skirmish  took  place  in  May,  in  which  the  English  got  some- 
thing the  better.  Loudon,  however,  on  his  arrival,  determined 
to  give  up  that  part  of  the  plan  and  to  confine  his  operations 
to  the  attack  on  Crown  Point.  He  proposed,  however,  to 
send  re-enforcements  to  Oswego.  But  Montcalm  was  before- 
hand with  him.  Sailing  from  Fort  Frontenac  in  August  with 
three  thousand  men  and  several  cannons  he  appeared  before 
Oswego,  which  proved  to  be  utterly  incapable  of  defense,  and 
surrendered  in  two  or  three  days'  time.  The  blow  to  the  En- 
glish was  severe.  It  injured  their  prestige  with  the  Indians, 
it  secured  the  French  communications  with  Niagara,  Detroit 
and  Fort  Duquesne,  and  it  left  Montcalm  free  to  concentrate 
his  forces  at  Ticonderoga. 

In  this  direction  the  English,  although  great  preparations 
had  been  made,  did  nothing.     A  vigorous  war  of  skirmishes 


132  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

was  carried  on  by  Indians  and  rangers  on  either  side  of  Lake 
George,  but  no  effective  blow  was  struck.  The  next  year, 
however,  the  crushing  blow  came.  Loudon  planned  an  at- 
tack on  Louisburg  which,  owing  to  stormy  weather  as  well  as 
other  things,  came  to  nothing.  Montcalm  turned  his  whole 
attention  toward  Lake  Champlain.  Fort  William  Henry  was 
garrisoned  by  a  comparatively  small  force.  Webb  lay  at  Fort 
Edward  with  such  troops  as  had  been  left  by  Loudon.  In 
July  he  collected  all  the  force  that  was  available  at  Ticon- 
deroga  for  a  descent  on  Fort  William  Henry.  A  large  num- 
ber of  Indians  were  present,  as  well  Christian  Indians  from 
the  missions  as  tribes  from  the  far  West.  There  were  also 
Canadians,  colonial  regulars,  and  French  troops.  The  expe- 
dition left  Ticonderoga  in  August  and  shortly  appeared  be- 
fore Fort  William  Henry,  where  Munro  was  in  command  with 
two  thousand  men.  The  French  numbered  seventy-five  hun- 
dred. Not  far  distant,  at  Fort  Edward,  General  Webb  had  a 
small  force,  but  he  did  not  think  it  best  to  weaken  his  army 
by  re-enforcing  Munro,  for  their  combined  forces  could  not 
have  equaled  the  French. 

The  French  proceeded  to  open  trenches  for  a  formal  siege. 
They  had  with  them  cannon  and  mortars  which  soon  made  a 
breach  in  the  fort.  Munro  replied  gallantly  with  his  cannon, 
but  learning  from  WTebb  that  he  could  expect  no  re-enforce- 
ment from  him  he  finally  decided  to  accept  Montcalm's 
offers  for  a  capitulation.  The  garrison  were  to  be  allowed 
to  march  out  to  Fort  Edward  on  promise  not  to  subsequently 
serve  against  the  French.  On  the  way,  however,  the  savage 
allies  of  Montcalm  broke  all  bounds  and  precipitated  them- 
selves on  the  English,  massacring  a  large  number.  The  sur- 
vivors finally  reached  Webb  at  Fort  Edward.  Fort  William 
Henry  was  dismantled  and  burned,  and  the  French  and  In- 
dians retired  to  Canada. 

So  far  the  tide  of  the  war  had  been  decidedly  in  favor  of 
the  French.  The  English  attempts  on  Forts  Duquesne  and 
Niagara  had  been  failures.  They  had  accomplished  literally 
nothing.    True,  the  French  had  been  defeated  in  the  first  year 


LOUISBURG   TAKEN.  133 

of  the  war  at  Fort  William  Henry,  but  their  subsequent  ex- 
peditions had  been  more  successful  and  the  demolition  of 
Oswego  and  Fort  William  Henry  had  been  two  severe  blows. 

The  next  year,  1758,  the  tide  changed  a  little.  In  England 
William  Pitt  had  been  called  to  the  direction  of  the  war,  and 
under  his  energetic  combinations  the  campaign  was  planned  / 
with  great  zeal.  Canada  was  to  be  attacked  by  all  approaches, 
an  English  army  and  fleet  were  to  besiege  the  citadel  of  Louis- 
burg,  a  joint  expedition  was  to  attack  Ticonderoga,  and  a 
third  army  was  to  strive  to  avenge  the  defeat  of  Braddock  at 
Fort  Duquesne.  Some  measure  of  success  remained  to  the 
English  at  the  end  of  the  campaign. 

On  the  2d  of  June,  Admiral  Boscawen,  with  an  English 
fleet,  appeared  off  the  coast  of  Cape  Breton.  He  was  in  com- 
mand of  twenty-three  ships-of-the-line,  eighteen  frigates,  and 
five  other  ships.  Under  his  convoy  was  a  fleet  of  transports, 
which  carried  General  Amherst  and  his  army  of  eleven  thou- 
sand English  regulars,  with  five  hundred  provincials.  It  was 
an  overpowering  force.  Drucour,  the  French  commander, 
had  with  him  in  the  town  but  five  thousand  French  and 
Canadian  regulars,  with  such  assistance  as  he  could  get  from 
the  inhabitants  and  from  a  number  of  Indians — a  branch  of 
the  French  army  never  famous  for  siege  operations. 

The  siege  was  bitterly  contested  and  lasted  longer  than 
might  have  been  expected.  The  English  forced  a  landing  at 
the  west  of  the  town,  although  the  weather  was  so  rough  that 
it  took  several  days  for  them  to  get  all  their  heavy  guns 
ashore.  The  town  was  then  invested  in  regular  form.  The 
heavy  siege  guns  soon  rendered  the  fortress  indefensible,  and 
on  the  26th  of  July  the  town  surrendered.  It  was  the  first 
great  English  success  of  the  war,  and  all  England  and  all 
the  English  colonies  rejoiced.  Yet  the  expedition  had  not 
wholly  succeeded.  The  brave  resistance  of  the  French  had 
delayed  the  surrender  so  that  there  was  no  time  for  Boscawen 
and  Amherst  to  move  on  Quebec,  toward  which  James  Wolfe, 
the  brigadier-general  under  Amherst,  cast  longing  eyes. 

This  success  on  the  right  was  balanced  later  in  the  season 


' 


134  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

by  others  almost  as  important  on  the  left.  Later  in  the  sea- 
son, in  the  middle  of  August,  Bradstreet,  with  a  force  of  pro- 
vincials, made  his  way  to  the  deserted  post  of  Oswego.  Here 
his  men,  joined  by  a  few  Indians,  embarked  in  boats  which 
they  had  brought  with  them,  and  started  across  the  lake  for 
Fort  Frontenac.  The  French  were  not  expecting  an  attack, 
and  there  were  hardly  two  hundred  men  in  the  fort.  Brad- 
street  had  with  him  more  than  ten  times  the  number.  He 
effected  a  landing  and  the  FYench  surrendered.  The  fort  was 
dismantled,  and  the  expedition  returned  to  Albany.  Later  in 
the  season  Fort  Duquesne  succumbed.  General  Forbes  had 
been  sent  against  it  with  a  force  composed  of  provincials 
from  the  southern  colonies,  some  regulars,  among  them  some 
Scotch  Highlanders,  and  a  regiment  of  Royal  Americans, 
so  called — king's  troops  recruited  in  the  colonies.  Forbes, 
warned  by  the  example  of  Braddock,  made  his  way  slowly 
and  with  great  caution  through  the  forests  of  western  Penn- 
sylvania. It  was  not  till  the  end  of  November  that  he  reached 
the  fort,  and  then  the  French  had  gone.  Too  few  to  resist  suc- 
cessfully, and  compelled  by  lack  of  provisions,  they  had  been 
forced  to  retire  after  having  burned  and  blown  up  the  works. 
A  temporary  defense  was  built  and  garrisoned  by  the  English, 
the  name  was  changed  to  Pittsburg,  and  the  English  retired. 

By  these  successes  the  English  had  made  material  advance. 
The  French,  left  and  right,  had  been  driven  in.  But  the  blow 
aimed  at  the  center  had  failed.  Montcalm  still  held  Ticon- 
deroga.  The  plans  made  by  Pitt  for  the  campaign  had  for 
their  chief  part  an  expedition  against  Canada  on  this  line.  It 
should  have  been  successful.  The  forces  gathered  at  Fort 
William  Henry  were  very  large.  There  were  six  thousand 
regulars.  Pitt  had  this  year  called  on  the  colonies  for  twenty 
thousand  men.  Of  these  nearly  ten  thousand  were  to  be 
employed  on  the  expedition  against  Ticonderoga.  A  large 
number  of  boats  had  been  prepared  to  carry  them  up  Lake 
George.  On  the  5th  of  July  the  army  embarked,  and  the 
great  flotilla  of  over  a  thousand  boats  began  its  journey  down 
the  lake.     The  expedition  was  well  provided  with  artillery, 


ATTACK  ON   QUEBEC.  1 35 

and  everything  seemed  to  augur  well  for  the  reduction  of  the 
French  stronghold.  Abercrombie  was  in  command,  but  the 
life  of  the  army  was  General  Lord  Howe.  They  landed  at 
the  northern  end  of  the  lake  on  the  6th  and  took  up  their 
march  across  country  toward  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Champlain.  Here  a  crushing  disaster  befell  them.  Lord 
Howe,  marching  with  Major  Israel  Putnam  at  the  head  of  the 
army,  was  shot  and  killed  in  a  skirmish  with  an  outlying  party 
of  the  French.     The  whole  army  felt  the  blow. 

Abercrombie  pressed  his  men  on,  intent  on  forcing  the 
French  position  by  storm.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  one  way 
in  which  success  was  doubtful.  Montcalm  had  intrenched 
himself  strongly  just  outside  of  the  fort  and  withstood  the 
English  attack  for  seven  hours.  The  battle  was  desperate  and 
bloody.  At  the  end  the  English,  having  made  nothing  and 
having  lost  one  fourth  of  their  number,  were  ordered  to 
retire,  though  still  strong  enough  to  have  captured  the  fort 
by  siege.  The  expedition  returned  to  Fort  William  Henry 
and  the  campaign  was  given  up  as  a  failure. 

But  this  was  the  last  French  success  in  the  war.  Their 
efforts  seemed  to  grow  more  feeble  as  the  English  increased 
in  vigor.  Provisions  and  men  were  scarce.  Jealousy  and 
intrigue  disordered  their  counsels.  They  were  not  supported 
from  home.     One  more  campaign  finished  the  war. 

The  English  took  the  offensive  on  every  point.  A  large 
army  and  fleet  were  sent  against  Quebec,  rendered  more  easy 
of  access  by  the  fall  of  Louisburg.  Amherst  was  to  attack 
Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point.  Oswego  was  to  be  rebuilt 
and  Fort  Niagara  was  to  be  reduced.  And  Fort  Duquesne, 
or  Pittsburg,  was  to  be  strengthened  and  garrisoned.  All 
these  plans  were  carried  out  with  great  vigor. 

The  upper  town  of  Quebec  is  a  place  of  great  natural 
strength.  It  stands  high  above  the  river,  on  a  steep  cliff, 
easily  made  inaccessible,  protected  on  the  south,  east  and 
north  by  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  St.  Charles  rivers.  To 
the  west  of  the  city  is  the  plateau  on  which  are  the  Plains  of 
Abraham.     To    the  north   is   the   river  St.    Charles,  beyond 


136  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

which  was  the  entrenched  camp  of  the  French  army  under 
Montcalm,  stretching  down  the  river  for  two  miles,  as  far 
as  the  Falls  of  Montmorenci.  In  the  river  opposite  the 
French  camp  is  the  Island  of  Orleans.  Here  the  English 
landed  on  the  26th  of  June  an  army  of  some  nine  thousand 
men,  under  command  of  Wolfe — who  was  to  become  famous 
here — assisted  by  a  large  fleet. 

The  undertaking  was  difficult,  and  the  summer  wore  away 
while  the  British  lay  on  the  Island  of  Orleans,  no  further 
advanced  than  the  day  they  landed.  A  vigorous  attack  made 
on  the  French  camp  near  the  Falls  of  Montmorenci  was  a 
failure.  The  lower  town  was  reduced  to  ruins  by  the  En- 
glish guns,  but  no  impression  was  made  on  the  citadel.  In 
September  Wolfe  resolved  that  a  great  risk  must  be  run,  and 
determined  to  attack  the  town  from  the  west.  About  five 
thousand  of  his  troops  were  secretly  conveyed  above  the  city. 
Then,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  13th,  the  expedition  floated 
down  the  river  in  boats,  till  they  reached  the  point  agreed 
upon,  above  the  city.  Twenty-four  volunteers  scaled  the  cliffs 
by  a  steep  and  narrow  path,  and  the  rest  of  the  army  fol- 
lowed. By  daylight  the  English,  thirty-five  hundred  strong, 
stood  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham — a  mile  distant  from  Quebec. 
Montcalm  had  been  taken  by  surprise.  He  mustered  his 
forces  as  soon  as  possible  and  appeared  before  the  city  to 
give  battle.  The  fortune  of  war  was  with  the  English.  The 
French  were  broken  and  fled.  The  two  leaders,  Wolfe  and 
Montcalm,  were  both  killed  in  the  battle.  But  the  English 
remained  masters  of  the  field.  They  entrenched  themselves, 
and  the  city  surrendered  the  next  day. 

The  fall  of  Quebec  was  the  fall  of  Canada.  The  other 
expeditions  set  on  foot  had  succeeded.  General  Prideaux 
had  reached  Oswego,  and,  leaving  half  his  force  to  hold  that 
place,  had  proceeded  and  laid  siege  to  Niagara  with  the  rest. 
The  French  were  defeated  in  sundry  skirmishes  and  the 
place  fell.  Meanwhile  Amherst  had  gathered  his  forces  at 
Fort  William  Henry  and  sailed  down  Lake  George  to  Ticon- 
deroga,  which  was  abandoned  by  the  French  at  his  approach. 


END   OF   THE  WAR. 


137 


Crown  Point  was  also  evacuated,  and  the  English  were  mas- 
ters of  this  road  to  Canada.  It  had  been  Amherst's  intention 
to  advance  on  Montreal 


FRENCH  &  INDIAN 
WAR 


and  Quebec,  but  the  sea- 
son was  too  far  advanced 
for  him  to  do  so.  The 
campaign  closed  with 
Canada  virtually  in  the 
hands  of  the  English. 
The  next  year  the  French 
attempted  to  recapture 
Quebec,  but  the  place 
was  successfully  held 
against  them.  That  same 
year  three  simultaneous 
attacks  were  directed 
against  Montreal :  Mur- 
ray was  to  advance  from 
Quebec  and  Haviland  by 
way  of  Lake  Champlain, 
while  Amherst  sailed 
down  the  St.  Lawrence 
from  Lake  Ontario.  A 
junction  was  effected ; 
Montreal  was  invested 
by  seventeen  thousand 
men,  and  the  town  ca- 
pitulated. By  the  terms  of  the  surrender  all  Canada  passed 
over  to  the  English.  All  French  troops  were  to  be  sent  to 
France,  with  any  others  who  might  desire  to  go  with  them. 

Thus  was  the  war  in  America  ended.  The  Peace  of  Paris, 
signed  three  years  later,  confirmed  the  conditions,  and  the 
English  colonies  were  at  last  rid  of  their  dangerous  rivals  on 
the  north  and  west.  Not  a  few  keen-sighted  men,  in  different 
parts  of  the  world,  saw  in  this  freedom  from  alarm  and  men- 
ace, in  this  possibility  of  endless  increase,  the  sure  signs  of 
American  independence. 


t 


138  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Colonial    Irritation. 

The  Prospect  of  Peace— George  III.— System  for  Taxing  America— The 
Stamp  Act— The  Navigation  Act— Protest  Against  the  Act— Passage  of 
the  Stamp  Act— Continental  Congress— Attack  on  the  House  of  Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson— Sons  of  Liberty— Rockingham  Ministry  in  Power- 
Speech  of  William  Pitt— Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act— Statues  of  Pitt 
and  George  III.— The  Mutiny  Act— The  Tea  Act— Irritation  of  the 
Colonists — A  Garrison  in  Boston. 

WAR  was  over,  and  it  seemed  as  if  danger  from  foreign 
enemies  was  over.  Especially  in  the  northern  and 
middle  colonies  was  the  danger  of  incursions  from  the  savages 
on  their  northern  and  western  frontiers  at  an  end. 

For  more  than  a  generation  the  English  colonists  had  been 
more  than  a  match  for  any  force  which  the  Indians  could 
bring  against  them  without  the  help  of  white  men,  but  while 
there  were  magazines  of  French  arms  and  ammunition  to 
rely  upon  the  frontiers  were  never  safe.  Political  jealousy  and 
priestly  bigotry  were  enough  to  excite  the  Indians  who  lived 
between  the  French  and  the  English,  and  the  familiar  phrase 
which  has  come  into  that  history,  which  speaks  of  the  incur- 
sions or  conflicts  as  belonging  "  to  French-and-Indian-wars," 
shows  how  natural  and  complete  was  the  alliance  between  the 
two.  This  alliance  was  now  dissolved,  and  apparently  dis- 
solved forever.  The  colonists  were  to  deal  with  the  Indians 
alone,  and  they  knew  that,  so  dealing,  they  were  quite  sure  of 
peace.  There  is  a  curious  letter  from  Washington,  written 
to  an  English  correspondent  in  1763,  in  which  he  says  that 
the  quiet  of  all  life  in  the  colonies  is  such  that  he  really 
has  nothing  to  say  which  will  interest  a  friend  on  the  other 
side  of  the  water. 


REVENUE   FROM    STAMPS.  1 39 

The  folly  of  George  III.,  a  young  prince  who  had  come 
to  the  throne  but  a  few  years  before,  broke  up  all  this 
seeming  tranquillity.  His  grandfather,  George  II.,  was  a 
soldier.  He  was  not  much  more  than  a  soldier,  but  he 
was  a  man  who  did  dare  to  go  into  battle  and  who  under- 
stood more  or  less  of  the  strategy  which  belonged  to  the 
military  art  of  his  time.  George  III.'s  father  had  died  while 
George  II.  lived.  When,  in  1760,  the  grandson  inherited 
the  throne  of  England,  it  was  with  a  young  man's  enthusi- 
asm, hopes  and  ambitions. 

Benjamin  West,  who  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in 
London,  is  the  authority  for  an  anecdote  which  is  probably 
true.  He  says  that  the  young  king  was  anxious  to  rival  in 
London  the  visible  grandeurs  of  the  Court  of  France.  He 
had  formed  the  idea  that  he  should  like  to  build  a  palace 
which  might  bear  some  comparison  with  the  glories  of  Ver- 
sailles. To  do  riiis,  as  he  and  his  favorites  knew,  required  a 
larger  revenue  than  English  parliaments  were  used  to  vote 
to  English  sovereigns.  New  revenue  must  be  sought  for 
somewhere.  With  the  audacity  of  youth  and  inexperience 
they  conceived  the  idea  of  drawing  revenue  from  these  col- 
onies which  extended  so  largely  upon  the  map,  and  for  whom 
an  army  directed  by  Chatham  had  done  such  great  things. 
Here  was,  according  to  Mr.  West,  the  origin  of  the  system 
for  taxing  America. 

In  the  ministry  of  Grenville  and  North,  in  1763,  a  bill  was 
introduced  in  Parliament  which  would  test  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  a  possible  revenue  to  be  derived  from  the  English 
colonies.  It  required  that  for  all  commercial  transactions 
and  all  instruments  of  record  stamps  must  be  used  as  they 
were  used  in  England.  The  earliest  reference,  in  the  English 
archives,  to  this  project,  is  at  the  date  of  July  5,  1763.  The 
next  spring,  on  the  10th  of  March,  Grenville  was  prime  min- 
ister. As  an  amendment  to  the  Sugar  Act  he  introduced  a 
resolution  in  these  fatal  words  :  "  It  may  be  proper  to  charge 
stamp  duties  on  the  colonies  and  plantations."  This  resolu- 
tion challenged  little  attention   in    Parliament.     But   it   was 


-K 


140  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

now  a  general  custom  for  each  colonial  assembly  to  maintain 
an  agent  in  London  who  should  attend  to  its  affairs.  Frank- 
lin was  such  an  agent  for  Pennsylvania.  These  agents,  of 
course,  notified  their  principals  of  the  proposition,  and  then 
waited  on  Grenville  promptly,  to  tell  him  that  any  scheme 
for  internal  taxation  would  be  intolerable  to  America.  Gren- 
ville answered  that  he  had  given  the  colonies,  by  his  resolu- 
tion, a  year  to  indicate  any  other  mode  of  contributing  to 
this  charge  which  might  be  agreeable  to  them. 

The  Sugar  Act,  to  which  this  resolution  regarding  stamps 
was  added,  was  a  renewal  of  an  act  which  had  been  passed 
thirty  years  before.  The  general  theory  of  English  commerce 
was  the  old  fatal  and  absurd  theory,  that  all  commerce  must 
be  conducted  for  the  benefit  of  the  mother  country.  What 
is  known  as  the  "  Navigation  Act  "  was  the  basis  of  English 
legislation.  On  the  theory  of  the  Navigation  Act,  if  Massa- 
chusetts wished  to  send  fish  to  the  West  India  islands  the 
fish  must  be  shipped  to  London,  and  from  England  re-shipped 
to  the  islands.  But  from  the  very  beginning  the  colonies  had 
disregarded  the  act.  Cromwell  had  assented  to  its  violation, 
and  subsequent  statutes  had*  confirmed  the  exception  thus 
made.  Under  the  act  of  1734,  which  expired  in  1764,  a  duty 
was  imposed  on  foreign  molasses.  Under  the  new  act  which 
Grenville  now  introduced,  this  duty  was  reduced  from  six 
pence  a  gallon  to  three  pence,  and  new  duties  were  imposed 
on  coffee,  pimento,  East  India  goods  and  wines,  when  admit- 
ted into  the  colonies.  While  the  colonies  had  never  dissented 
from  the  imposition  of  duties  on  navigation  which  were  in- 
tended to  protect  the  English  islands,  by  the  disadvantageous 
pressure  upon  the  products  of  the  Spanish  islands,  they  saw 
at  once  that  the  new  duty  was  proposed  for  the  raising  of 
revenue.  The  resolution  with  regard  to  stamps,  which  was 
added  to  an  act  in  itself  so  unpopular,  showed  that  this  was 
the  purpose  of  the  government. 

While  these  two  details  were  considered  in  England  as 
absolutely  unimportant  they  set  the  whole  of  America  in  a 
blaze.     "If  our  trade  may  be  taxed,  why  not  our  lands  ?  "  said 


STAMP  ACT   PASSED.  141 

Sam.  Adams.  "Why  not  the  produce  of  our  lands?  and,  in 
short,  every  thing  we  possessor  make  use  of?"  The  reader 
will  remember  that  it  was  only  a  hundred  and  twenty  years 
since  John  Hampden  had  gone  to  battle  and  to  death  to 
maintain  the  principle  that  the  subject  could  not  be  taxed  by 
the  king  unless  he  had  an  opportunity  to  vote  on  the  law 
which  taxed  him.  Precisely  the  same  question  was  now 
brought  before  the  colonies. 

It  was  by  no  means  a  new  question  in  the  colonies;  and 
with  a  curious  jealousy  the  legislative  assemblies  had  always 
refused  the  slightest  proposal  of  their  governors  to  raise  a 
revenue  which  they  themselves  had  not  voted.  In  1762  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  Massachusetts  had  said  :  "  It 
would  be  of  little  consequence  to  the  people  whether  they 
were  subject  to  George  or  to  Louis,  the  king  of  Great  Britain 
or  the  French  king,  if  both  were  as  arbitrary  as  both  would 
be  if  both  could  levy  taxes  without  Parliament."  Every 
colony  which  had  an  opportunity  protested  against  the  act 
and  its  principle.  The  agents  were  instructed  to  ask  for  a 
hearing  before  the  House  of  Commons,  and  in  one  or  an- 
other form  the  different  assemblies  sent  their  protests  to 
London. 

Grenville  was,  therefore,  fairly  warned.  He  had  given  his 
year's  notice  to  the  colonies,  and  this  was  the  result.  But  he 
introduced  the  Stamp  Act,  and  it  was  passed  by  a  full  house 
on  March  22,  1765.  The  cheapest  stamp  was  to  be  one  shil- 
ling. For  more  important  documents  the  prices  ranged 
upward.  This  act  was  to  be  enforced  after  the  first  Tuesday 
in  October. 

The  summer  of  1765  was,  therefore,  a  summer  of  tremen- 
dous excitement  through  all  the  colonies.  At  the  suggestion 
of  Massachusetts,  nine  assemblies  appointed  their  delegates 
to  meet  in  a  Continental  Congress  at  New  York,  to  consider 
the  exigency.  Meanwhile  the  piles  of  stamped  paper  which 
were  to  produce  this  new  revenue  arrived  in  the  different  sea- 
ports. Mobs  of  people  in  those  towns  waited  on  the  collect- 
ors who  were   appointed   to   sell   the  stamps  and  compelled 


i) 


*£is* 


142  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

them  to  decline.  The  Congress  met  in  the  old  City  Hall  in 
Wall  Street,  in  New  York.  It  consisted  of  twenty-eight  del- 
egates. They  agreed  together  on  thirteen  resolutions,  express- 
ing, in  strong  language,  the  conviction  "that  no  taxes  ever 
have  been  or  can  be  constitutionally  imposed  on  the  people 
of  these  colonies  but  by  their  respective  legislatures."  And, 
again,  that  "all  supplies  to  the  crown  being  free  gifts  of  the 
people,  it  is  unreasonable  and  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of 
the  British  Constitution  for  the  people  of  Great  Britain  to 
grant  to  his  majesty  the  property  of  the  colonists."  These 
resolutions  were  forwarded  to  England.  Similar  resolutions 
were  passed  in  many  of  the  colonial  assemblies. 

It  proved,  at  once,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  enforce 
the  use  of  stamped  paper.  In  most  of  the  towns  where  it 
was  to  be  sold  the  agents  were  compelled  to  resign.  In  Bos- 
ton the  mob  entered  the  house  of  Oliver,  the  agent,  and 
broke  his  windows.  This  outrage  was  not  checked.  The 
mob  gathered  courage  and  attacked  the  house  of  his  brother- 
in-law,  Governor  Hutchinson,  entered  it,  and  threw  every 
thing  into  the  street.  In  this  wild  riot  some  important  doc- 
uments bearing  on  American  history  were  lost.  Hutchinson 
was  singularly  hated  by  the  people,  because  he  was  of  New 
England  blood  and  they  thought  they  had  a  right  to  com- 
mand his  sympathy.  It  would  be  fair  to  say  that  unless  men 
held  office  under  the  crown  they  were  unanimous  in  their 
opposition  to  the  statute.  In  New  York  an  association  called 
the  "Sons  of  Liberty  "  was  formed,  which  led  the  opposition. 
Similar  associations  were  formed  in  other  provinces.  When 
a  vessel  arrived  with  stamps  for  use  in  Connecticut  she  was 
boarded,  the  stamps  were  seized  and  were  set  on  fire.  In 
Philadelphia  the  stamp  distributor  resigned  so  soon  as  he 
found  that  the  Sons  of  Liberty  proposed  to  visit  him.  In 
Maryland,  Hood,  who  was  to  distribute  them,  was  burned  in 
effigy,  and  fled  to  New  York.  The  Sons  of  Liberty  waited  on 
him  and  compelled  him  to  resign  his  office  and  swear  that 
he  would  not  resume  it.  In  short,  in  every  province  the  use 
of  stamps  proved  impossible,  and  it  seems  to  be  sure  that  no 


THE   ROCKINGHAM    MINISTRY.  143 

stamp  was  ever  used  upon  any  instrument  in  America.  The 
parcels  were,  in  many  instances,  shipped  back  to  England, 
and  it  is  within  the  memory  of  this  generation  that  in  some 
clearing  of  the  house  in  one  of  the  English  departments 
these  packages  were  found  and  the  stamps  given  away  as 
curiosities  to  persons  interested  in  history. 

Meanwhile  in  England  a  change  had  been  made  in  the 
cabinet.  What  was  known  as  the  Rockingham  ministry  came 
into  power — a  cabinet  which  was  independent  of  the  Earl  of 
Bute,  a  Scotch  lord,  who  had  been  supposed  to  have  an  undue 
influence  over  the  young  king.  When  Parliament  came  to- 
gether in  December  the  Rockingham  ministry  did  not  know 
its  own  mind  as  to  the  American  disturbances.  On  this 
occasion  William  Pitt  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  a  year. 
He  made  a  speech  in  the  formal  debate  on  the  address  to  the 
crown.  "In  my  opinion,"  he  said,  "this  kingdom  has  no 
right  to  lay  a  tax  upon  the  colonies.  The  Americans  are  the 
sons,  not  the  bastards  of  England."  In  this  speech  he  made 
a  prophecy  which  became  celebrated,  that  the  rotten  part  of 
the  constitution,  by  which  he  meant  the  system  of  rotten 
boroughs,  would  not  last  for  a  century.  In  fact,  it  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  "  Reform  Bill  "  in  1831.  At  the  end  of  such 
an  attack  there  was  silence.  General  Conway,  who  had  voted 
against  the  Stamp  Act  and  now  led  the  ministry,  then  rose. 
He  said  that  he  agreed  with  almost  every  word  that  Pitt  had 
said.  Grenville  defended  the  stamp  system.  He  said  that 
the  American  hatred  to  it  was  to  be  found  in  the  factions  of 
the  House.  Pitt  replied.  In  his  reply  he  used  words  which 
school-boys  still  repeat  at  school  exhibitions  :  "I  rejoice  that 
America  has  resisted.  Three  millions  of  people,  so  dead  to 
all  the  feelings  of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  submit  to  be  slaves, 
would  have  been  fit  instruments  to  make  slaves  of  all  the 
rest." 

The  House  went  into  what  was  called  a  careful  inquiry  on 
the  subject.  Franklin  was  examined  at  its  bar.  It  was  agreed 
on  all  hands  that  the  Stamp  Act  should  be  repealed.  It  was 
supposed  that  this  would  satisfy  the  Americans.     The  repeal 


144  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

was  passed  by  the  strong  vote  of  275  to  167.  And,  indeed, 
the  news  of  the  repeal  was  received  with  enthusiasm  through 
the  colonies.  It  was  thought  that  a  new  change  had  come  in. 
The  town  of  Boston  ordered  full-length  portraits  of  Conway 
and  of  Barre  to  be  hung  up  in  Faneuil  Hall,  which  was  its 
place  of  meeting.  The  Assembly  of  Virginia  voted  a  statue 
of  George  III.,  and  Maryland  proposed  one  of  Pitt.  The 
State  of  New  York  ordered  statues  to  both  Pitt  and  the  king, 
and  these  statues  were  set  up  in  August,  1770. 

But  all  this  enthusiasm  was  really  misplaced  ;  for  by  the 
side  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  a  declaratory  act  was 
passed,  declaring  that  Parliament  had  power  over  the  colonies 
in  all  cases  whatsoever.  The  Sugar  Act  had  not  been  modified, 
with  its  provision  creating  a  revenue  and  for  revenue  pur- 
poses. The  Mutiny  Act  directed  that  the  colonial  assemblies 
should  provide  quarters,  with  "  fire,  candles,  vinegar,  salt, 
bedding,  utensils  for  cooking,  beer  or  cider,  and  rum,"  for  the 
troops  who  might  be  sent  to  America.  Meanwhile  the  Rock- 
ingham ministry  had  dissolved.  In  the  changes  made,  which 
2-  cannot  be  called  partisan  so  much  as  personal,  the  opponents 
to  the  colonies  gained  new  force.  Charles  Townshend  came 
into  power,  and  he  had  a  theory  of  colonial  taxation  which  he 
supposed  he  could  carry  through.  He  died  in  the  year  1767, 
but  he  lived  long  enough  to  introduce  the  celebrated  Tea  Act, 
on  which,  as  it  happened,  the  discussions  of  after  years  turned. 

In  the  limited  space  of  this  history  it  is  impossible  to  go 
into  the  details  of  the  irritation  which  was  kept  up  now,  for 
a  series  of  years,  after  the  suspicion  had  once  gained  ground 
that  Parliament  meant  to  make  money  out  of  the  colonies.  It 
was  now  a  question  under  the  Mutiny  Act,  now  a  quarrel  about 
the  quartering  of  soldiers,  now  an  obnoxious  message  from  a 
home  secretary  to  a  governor,  which  continued  the  exaspera- 
tion. The  men  who  controlled  England  had  no  knowledge 
of  the  colonies.  On  the  other  hand,  the  people  of  New  En- 
gland, for  a  century,  had  hardly  known  what  a  soldier  was  in 
time  of  peace.  They  were  themselves  accustomed  to  serve 
in   their  own  train  bands.     They  were   disciplined  to  arms, 


GARRISONS.  145 

that  they  might  serve  as  a  militia.  They  had  volunteered 
freely,  even  for  distant  enterprises,  as  the  reader  knows  ;  but 
when  war  ended,  or  when  the  days  of  "annual  training  "  were 
over,  the  soldier  was  a  soldier  no  longer.  No  one  wore  a 
uniform  ;  no  one  presumed  on  any  rights  which  were  not 
shared  by  all  men.  To  a  New  Englander,  then,  to  see  a  body 
of  men  arrive  from  another  country,  dressed  in  unifrom  and 
carrying  weapons  when  all  was  at  peace,  was  a  sight  as  ab- 
surd as  if  they  had  been  clad  in  the  armor  of  the  Middle  Ages 
and  were  riding  up  and  down  like  Amadis  in  quest  of  adven- 
tures. To  quarter  a  body  of  soldiers  in  a  New  England  town, 
even  though  those  soldiers  were  paid  from  a  distant  treasury, 
was  a  constant  reminder  of  the  force  on  which  their  distant 
king  relied.  It  was  a  reminder  which  they  did  not  like,  and 
the  mere  presence  of  such  a  force  was  a  constant  exaspera- 
tion. 

Such  is  one  instance  of  the  offense  which  the  government 
in  London  was  constantly  giving  to  the  colonists  in  America. 
To  send  a  regiment  into  garrison  in  a  provincial  town  in  En- 
gland was  a  favor  to  that  town,  and  the  regiment  was  received 
with  a  certain  interest  and  enthusiasm.  But  to  send  a  regi- 
ment as  a  garrison  into  the  town  of  Boston  was  an  insult 
which  excited  and  exasperated  every  person  in  Boston  every 
day  that  such  occupation  continued. 
7 


146  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


3 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Boston  Massacre. 

Boston  Massacre — Selectmen  Wait  on  the  Governor — A  Demand  that 
the  Troops  Be  Withdrawn — Consent  of  Governor  Hutchinson — Sam. 
Adams's  Regiment — Trial  of  Preston — Protest  of  the  Colonies  Against 
Taxation — Lord  North  Prime  Minister. 

IN  Boston  this  irritation  came  to  its  height,  after  endless 
altercations  between  the  people  and  the  royal  troops 
and  seamen,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1770.  A  party  of  soldiers 
and  a  party  of  rope-makers  of  the  town  agreed  to  meet  in  a 
sort  of  duel,  and  fought  with  clubs  near  midnight.  Several 
men  on  each  side  were  badly  wounded.  The  next  night  an 
attempt  was  made  to  renew  this  fight,  which  was  suppressed 
with  some  difficulty.  The  next  night,  the  5th  of  March,  a 
day  which  became  historical,  two  young  men  tried  to  pass  a 
sentinel  at  the  foot  of  Cornhill,  near  where  the  statue  of 
Samuel  Adams  stands  to-day.  The  sentinel  tried  to  stop  them 
and  a  struggle  ensued.  The  encounter  was  itself  trifling,  but 
it  called  out  the  neighbors,  and  a  file  of  troops  in  defense  of 
the  sentry.  The  English  officers  succeeded  in  drawing  their 
men  back  into  the  barracks,  but  there  was  no  one  to  withdraw 
the  mob  of  people.  They  observed  another  sentinel,  who  was 
stationed  in  front  of  the  Custom  House.  This  building  was 
in  what  is  now  called  State  Street,  then  King  Street,  on  the 
northern  side.  A  boy  pointed  at  this  sentry  as  being  a  man 
who  had  knocked  him  down  lately,  and  the  mob  began  to 
pelt  him  with  snow-balls  and  other  missiles.  The  soldier 
tried  to  enter  the  building  for  protection,  but  the  door  was 
locked ;  and  he  was  obliged  to  call  for  the  main  guard,  whose 
station  was  within  hearing.  The  officer  in  command  sent  six 
men  to  his/ relief.     He  also  sent  for  Captain  Preston,  the  offi- 


BOSTON   MASSACRE.  1 47 

cer  of  the  day.  Meanwhile  rumors  of  a  fight  called  together 
an  immense  crowd.  The  bells  were  ringing  as  if  for  fire. 
Preston  joined  the  file  of  six  men  with  six  other  men.  They 
fell  back  in  a  curved  line  in  front  of  the  Custom  House. 
Preston  knew  and  the  mob  knew  that  by  the  law  of  England 
his  men  must  not  fire  without  the  order  of  a  civil  magistrate. 
He  behaved  with  moderation  and  judgment  all  through. 
The  mob  dared  the  soldiers  to  fire.  <v  Come  on,  lobster-backs." 
"  Come  on,  bloody-backs."  These  were  allusions  to  the  hated 
red  coat.  "  Fire  if  you  dare."  "  Damn  you,  why  don't  you 
fire  ?  "  At  last  a  soldier  received  a  severe  blow  from  a  club. 
He  leveled  his  piece  and  fired.  Immediately  after,  seven  or 
eight  more  of  the  soldiers  fired.  Three  of  the  people  were 
killed,  two  others  were  mortally  wounded,  and  six  slightly 
wounded.  The  rest  of  the  mob  fled  and  Preston  was  able  to 
withdraw  his  men  without  injury.  The  incident  seemed  to  be 
over,  but  in  reality  the  Revolutionary  War  had  begun. 

The  drums  beat  to  arms,  and  the  Twenty-ninth  regiment 
formed  in  King  Street.  On  the  other  hand,  Hutchinson  ad- 
dressed the  people  from  the  balcony  of  the  State  House.  He 
promised  a  full  investigation  in  the  morning.  A  citizens' 
guard  of  a  hundred  men  took  charge  of  the  streets,  and  peace 
was  restored.  Early  in  the  morning  Preston  gave  himself  up 
for  trial. 

The  Selectmen  of  Boston  at  once  waited  on  the  governor 
and  council.  They  said  that  such  a  fight  was  the  consequence 
which  they  had  always  anticipated  from  the'presence  of  a  body 
of  soldiers  in  a  peaceful  town.  They  said  that  the  troops  must 
be  withdrawn  from  Boston,  or  they  would  not  be  responsible 
for  the  consequences.  Hutchinson  said  that  the  troops  were 
under  military  orders,  and  that  he  could  not  remove  them;  that 
they  were  under  the  command  of  General  Gage,  at  New  York. 
But,  with  the  fatal  facility  of  a  weak  man,  he  said  that  Colonel 
Dalrymple  would  withdraw  to  the  castle  the  Twenty-ninth 
regiment,  which  had  had  the  fights  with  the  people.  The 
town  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall  pronounced  this  answer  unsat- 
isfactory.   Sam.  Adams,  at  the  head  of  a  committee  of  citizens, 


148  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

waited  upon  Hutchinson  again.  Hutchinson  renewed  the 
proposal  that  one  regiment  should  be  sent  away.  Adams  an- 
swered at  once  that  if  there  was  power  to  remove  one  regi- 
ment there  was  power  to  remove  two,  and  that  nothing  less 
would  satisfy  the  people.  Hutchinson  gave  way,  and  the 
regiments  were  removed  to  Castle  William,  in  the  harbor. 
By  this  act  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  was  postponed  for 
five  years. 

The  young  king,"  George  III.,  who  was  trying  these  little 
experiments  at  absolute  government,  heard  with  disgust  of  the 
failure  of  this  effort  to  quarter  soldiers  in  a  free  town.  He 
always  called  these  two  regiments  "  Sam.  Adams's  regiments  " 
afterward.  It  was  perhaps  at  this  moment  that  he  first  heard 
Adams's  name,  and  it  is  probably  from  this  moment  that 
Samuel  Adams,  who  is,  in  fact,  the  father  of  American  inde- 
pendence, was  always  regarded  with  particular  dislike  by 
George  III.,  who  should  be  remembered  as  the  author  of  the 
American  Revolution.  By  this  is  meant  that,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  preposterous  wish  of  George  III.  to  intermeddle  with  the 
constitutional  order  of  things  which  he  found,  the  separation  of 
America  from  England,  in  itself  unavoidable,  would  have  hap- 
pened at  a  different  time  and  under  very  different  conditions. 

Preston  was  tried  for  murder.  He  was  defended  by  Quincy 
and  Adams,  two  patriot  lawyers,  and  was  acquitted.  Two  of 
the  soldiers  were  found  guilty  of  manslaughter,  the  rest  were 
acquitted.  Under  the  inhuman  law  of  that  time  these  two 
poor  fellows  were  branded  in  the  hand.  Hutchinson,  the  weak 
governor,  who  could  have  pardoned  them,  said  this  was  of  little 
consequence  to  the  prisoners,  and  he  thought  it  most  advisable 
not  to  interfere. 

The  act  drawn  by  Townshend's  direction  for  the  taxation 
of  the  colonies  proposed  importation  duties  on  tea,  glass, 
paper  and  colors.  Against  these  the  colonies  had  protested 
in  every  way.  They  had  materially  checked  the  trade  with 
England  by  combinations  of  the  patriots  who  refused  to  re- 
ceive foreign  goods.  From  the  severity  of  these  combinations 
they  gave  way  gradually,  so  that  they  would  receive  such  other 


LORD  NORTH.  149 

manufactures  of  England  as  they  needed,  but  would  not  re- 
ceive the  articles  on  which  the  taxes  were  to  be  paid.  In 
1769  the  Duke  of  Grafton  urged  in  the  cabinet  a  remission 
of  all  these  duties.  His  colleagues,  however,  insisted  on 
maintaining  the  duty  on  tea  "  for  the  sake  of  the  principle," 
as  was  said.  But  the  cabinet  agreed  that  the  circular  on  the 
subject  should  contain  as  encouraging  expressions  as  were 
possible.  The  Duke  of  Grafton  afterward  complained  that 
these  encouraging  expressions  were  never  sent  to  the  colonies; 
that  the  circular  letter  which  was  sent  was  calculated  to  do 
all  the  mischief  possible.  And  he  charges  that  these  changes 
were  made  at  the  direct  instance  of  the  king.  This  is  proba- 
bly true.  In  all  the  history  of  that  time  matters  were  com- 
plicated by  the  existence  of  a  set  of  men  who  were  called 
"the  king's  friends,"  who  surrounded  the  person  of  George 
III.,  and  who  took  care  that  not  even  the  cabinet,  which  was 
theoretically  responsible,  should  have  its  own  way  fully,  if 
that  way  crossed  the  royal  will.  Meanwhile,  George  III.  had 
shown  the  first  symptoms  of  the  insanity  under  which  he  after- 
ward broke  down. 

With  the  spring  of  1770  the  Grafton  ministry  broke  up  and 
Lord  North  became  prime  minister.  This  was  on  the  27th  of 
January.  The  "  king's  friends  "  were  to  control  England  for 
the  next  twelve  years,  and  the  history  of  the  next  twelve 
years,  with  the  loss  of  the  American  colonies,  is  the  result  of 
that  control.  The  American  reader  studies  with  curious  pains 
the  details  of  the  intrigues  on  which  depended  the  fate  of 
his  own  country.  He  finds,  to  his  surprise,  that  hardly  any 
man  in  England  knew  any  thing  about  the  colonies  or  cared 
much  for  them  or  for  theirs.  The  government  had  no  policy. 
It  was  committed  to  retaining  the  tea  tax,  partly  to  show  that 
it  had  the  right  of  taxation  and  partly  because  it  would  main- 
tain the  favorable  consideration  of  the  great  East  India  Com- 
pany. But  matters  of  local  policy,  local  intrigues,  and  per- 
sonal cabals,  occupied  the  statesmen  of  England  so  much 
that  they  could  scarcely  devote  an  hour  to  the  consideration 
of  the  condition  of  their  colonies. 


150  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Boston  Tea  Party. 

Massachusetts  Assembly — Town  Meetings — Destruction  of  Tea  in  Boston 
Harbor — Hearing  Before  the  Privy  Council — Recall  of  Hutchinson — 
Refusal  of  All  the  Sea-ports  to  Receive  Tea— Boston  Port  Bill — Vir- 
ginia Assembly-  Continental  Congress — Re-inforcement  of  Governor 
Gage — Percy's  Brigade — Provincial  Assembly— English  Troops  March 
to  Lexington— Go  On  to  Concord — Retreat  to  Boston — English  Loss — 
Continental  Congress  Meets  for  the  Second  Time — George  Washing- 
ton Appointed  Commander-in-Chief — Battle  of  Bunker  Plill. 

READING  as  we  read,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  event,  we 
search  through  correspondence  and  memoirs  for  some 
hint  of  what  was  to  follow.  Such  bodies  as  the  Assembly  of 
Massachusetts,  led  by  eager  patriots,  had  always  some  quar- 
rel with  the  crown  governor.  But  on  the  whole  the  storm 
seemed  to  have  lulled.  It  might  have  passed  over  for  a 
time  but  for  the  alliance  of  the  king's  friends  with  the  East 
India  Company. 

This  company  was  acquiring  the  importance  under 
which,  not  long  after,  it  attained  its  Eastern  empire.  It  was 
burdened  with  seventeen  million  pounds  of  tea,  partly 
because  the  Americans  had  refused  to  drink  tea  which  paid 
the  English  duty.  Lord  North  had  to  lend  the  company  a 
million  and  a  half  of  money  to  save  it  from  bankruptcy. 
The  teas  in  England  had  already  paid  six  pence  per  pound 
of  import  duty.  Lord  North  offered  to  the  company  to  repay 
them  these  duties  as  a  drawback  on  all  teas  exported  to 
America.  He  thus  gave  to  the  Americans  what  they 
wanted — a  suspension  of  the  Navigation  Act — so  far  as  teas 
were  concerned.  And  to  this  plan  Parliament  consented.  The 
directors  of  the  East  India  Company  knew  America  better 


PRIVY   COUNCIL.  151 

than  Lord  North  did.  They  begged  to  be  permitted  to  land 
the  tea  free  in  America,  and  offered  to  give  up  for  this  privi- 
lege the  drawback  which  the  government  offered.  But  the 
king  said,  "  There  must  be  one  tax  to  keep  up  the  right." 
It  was  but  three  pence  a  pound.  It  was  only  one  half  of 
what  the  English  subject  paid.  But  the  English  subject  who 
agreed  to  pay  it  had  his  vote  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  American  subject  had  not.  There  was  the  difference. 
"  The  tax  is  but  three  pence,"  said  James  Otis  in  the  speech 
assigned  to  him  ;  "  but  it  was  for  half  a  penny  that  Hampden 
resisted."  The  company  chartered  its  own  ships  and 
freighted  them  for  America,  consigning  them  to  different 
sea-ports. 

While  this  was  passing  the  public  feeling  in  Massachusetts 
was  made  more  bitter  by  the  discovery  of  twelve  letters 
written  by  Hutchinson  and  Oliver  to  the  government  through 
these  years  of  controversy.  It  was  proved  from  these  letters 
that  these  two  Americans  had  proposed  the  introduction  of 
troops.  Hutchinson  had  said  in  one  that  he  doubted  if  it 
were  possible  that  the  people  of  a  colony  should  enjoy  all 
the  liberty  of  the  parent  state.  One  of  the  letters  proposed 
the  establishment  of  a  patrician  order.  Nothing  could  have 
more  excited  the  colonies.  It  proved  that  they  were 
wounded  in  the  house  of  their  friends.  Echoes  of  this 
excitement  even  reached  London.  The  Massachusetts 
Assembly  prayed  the  king  to  remove  Hutchinson  and  Oli- 
ver, who  were  governor  and  lieutenant-governor.  His  Coun- 
cil met  in  the  fullest  meeting  remembered  to  hear  the  peti- 
tion. After  it  had  been  presented  and  supported  by  Mr. 
Dunning,  Mr.  Wedderburn  spoke,  as  solicitor-general,  in  reply. 
Much  of  his  speech  was  a  coarse  attack  on  Franklin,  whom 
he  charged  with  being  a  thief.  The  council  pronounced 
the  petition  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massachu- 
setts groundless  and  scandalous.  But  the  younger  Pitt  in 
the  House  of  Commons  afterward  expressed  the  opinion  of 
history  when  he  called  it  "  a  scene  in  the  cock-pit."  Wal- 
pole  wrote  this  epigram  on  the  interview: 


152  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

"Sarcastic  Sawney,  swollen  with  spite  and  prate, 
On  silent  Franklin  poured  his  venal  hate, 
The  calm  philosopher  without  reply 
Withdrew,  and  gave  his  country  liberty." 

Franklin  wore  that  day  a  suit  of  clothes  of  a  stuff  then 
called  Manchester  velvet.  He  laid  by  the  clothes  with  the 
determination  that  he  would  never  wear  them  till  Wedder- 
burn's  insults  were  revenged.  And  it  was  ten  years  after- 
ward that  he  put  them  on,  when,  as  Plenipotentiary  of 
America,  he  signed,  with  the  English  Plenipotentiary,  the 
treaty  in  which  England  acknowledged  the  independence  of 
of  his  country. 

This  incident  was  the  more  exciting  because  the  news  had 
only  just  arrived  in  London  of  the  destruction  of  three  car- 
goes of  tea  in  the  harbor  of  Boston. 

For  all  these  years  of  controversy,  the  Massachusetts 
Assembly,  when  it  met,  and  the  Boston  town  meeting 
at  any  time  of  the  year,  were  the  chief  visible  or  official 
opponents  of  the  English  government.  The  smaller  towns 
did  not  hesitate  in  their  meetings  to  assert  the  right  of  sov- 
ereignties which  were  well-nigh  independent.  And  there  is 
many  a  record  of  a  vote  in  a  New  England  town  meeting 
directing  the  selectmen  to  buy  powder,  or  to  build  a  powder- 
house,  when  the  vote  meant  war  against  the  king  and  the 
men  who  voted  knew  that  this  was  its  meaning. 

In  Boston  the  town  meetings  were  led  by  Samuel  Adams 
and  men  who  agreed  with  him.  They  had  instituted  a  sys- 
tem of  correspondence  which  kept  them  in  connection  with 
all  the  towns  in  the  colony,  and  eventually  was  extended  to 
all  the  patriotic  assemblies  in  the  different  colonies.  The 
arrival  of  the  hated  tea  in  the  harbor  of  Boston  was  an 
occasion  quite  important  enough  to  demand  the  attention  of 
a  town  meeting.  Such  a  meeting  was  called,  and  the 
neighboring  towns  were  invited  to  send  representatives  to  it. 

The  meeting  was  regarded,  however,  as  a  formal  meeting 
of  the  "  town  of  Boston."  As  such  it  acted,  and  it  gave  the 
instruction  of  the  "  town  "  to  the  consignees  of  the  tea  ships  to 


TEA   PARTY.  1 53 

send  them  back  to  England.  The  consignees  replied  that 
they  could  not  pass  the  fort  in  the  harbor  without  a  permit 
from  Governor  Hutchinson.  The  "  town  "  bade  them  obtain 
such  a  permit  at  once,  and  they  attempted  to  do  so. 

But  the  governor  had  stolen  to  his  country  house,  ten 
miles  away.  The  consignees  followed  him  there,  and  he 
refused  the  technical  permit.  He  knew,  of  course,  that  the 
king's  ministers  would  regard  it  as  given  in  weak  compli- 
ance to  a  mob,  as  they  regarded  the  transfer  of  "  Sam 
Adams's  regiments,"  three  years  before.  The  consignees 
returned  to  Boston  with  news  of  his  refusal. 

Meanwhile  the  town  meeting  had  been  in  session  all  day. 
The  sun  had  long  set  when  the  news  from  Milton  came. 
Sam  Adams  arose  and  said  "  This  meeting  can  do  nothing 
more  to  save  the  country.''  It  was  voted  that  the  meeting  be 
dissolved.  At  that  moment  a  war-whoop  sounded  outside  of 
the  meeting-house  where  the  assembly  was  gathered.  The 
crowd  rushed  out  to  see  a  body  of  men  rudely  disguised  as 
Mohawk  Indians,  on  their  way  to  the  ships.  Another  body 
from  the  south  end  of  the  town  joined  them.  The  arrange- 
ments had  been  carefully  concerted,  probably  in  the  secrecy 
of  Masonic  Lodge  rooms.  In  all,  a  body  of  forty  or  fifty 
young  men  met  at  the  wharves  where  the  tea  vessels  lay. 
The  population  of  the  town  followed,  from  the  meeting-house 
and  elsewhere.  The  "  Indians  "  set  a  guard  to  keep  all  others 
from  the  ships.  They  took  possession  of  the  vessels.  With 
the  skill  of  men  used  to  the  business  they  hoisted  the  tea  chests 
from  the  holds.  They  spilt  them  open  with  axes  and  threw 
the  tea  into  the  water.  Before  midnight  all  the  tea  was 
floating  on  the  waves,  and  with  the  ebb  tide  was  taken  out 
to  sea.* 

The  work  of  destruction  had  been  done  under  a  clear 
moon,  in  sight  of  half  the  town.  The  governor  was  away. 
The  military  commander  at  Fort  William  did  not,  perhaps, 
know  what  was  passing.     If  he  did  know  he  did  not  venture 

♦Specimens  of  it,   preserved  carefully   in  bottles  as  it  was    gathered    on    beaches 
are  still  shown. 

7* 


154  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

to  interfere.  This  was  the  answer  of  the  town  of  Boston  to 
the  crown. 

Such  was  the  news  which  had  arrived  in  London  two  days 
only  before  the  important  meeting  of  the  privy  council  to 
consider  American  affairs.  It  will  be  well  understood  that  it 
had  its  share  in  calling  out  the  scornful  refusal  of  the  privy 
council  to  listen  to  the  petition  of  Massachusetts,  and  that  it 
gave  point  and  sarcasm  to  the  invective  of  Wedderburn. 
The  cause  of  Massachusetts  had,  indeed,  been  prejudged  be- 
fore the  hearing. 

It  is  to  be  said  to  Franklin's  credit  that  he  did  not  permit 
the  insult  heaped  upon  him  to  check  him  in  the  steadfast 
efforts  which  he  made  for  reconciliation.  In  the  House  of 
Lords  the  Earl  of  Buckinghamshire  said  that  Franklin  was  in 
London  not  as  the  agent  of  a  province,  but  as  an  embassador 
from  the  States  of  America.  "Such  language  is  wild,"  said 
the  Earl  of  Stair,  in  reply,  and  urged  a  more  conciliatory  tone. 
Franklin  himself  lost  favor  at  home  by  urging  that  compensa- 
tion should  be  made  for  the  tea;  and  in  England,  where  he 
remained  more  than  a  year,  he  did  his  best  to  soften  preju- 
dices and  to  explain  the  true  necessities  of  the  case.  But 
even  Franklin  did  not  know  how  determined  was  the  enemy 
of  America.  This  enemy  was  the  king  himself.  On  the  4th 
of  February  the  king  sent  for  General  Gage,  who  held  the 
command  of  the  English  forces  in  America,  but  was  at  this 
time  in  London.  He  expressed  his  readiness  to  return  at  a 
day's  notice.  "They  will  be  lions,"  he  said,  "while  we  are 
lambs;  "  and,  again,  he  told  the  king  that,  if  four  regiments 
were  sent  to  Boston,  they  would  prevent  any  disturbance. 
The  king  believed  him,  and  said  he  would  enforce  the  claim 
of  authority  at  all  hazards.  He  said  that  the  folly  which 
gave  way  about  the  Stamp  Act  had  increased  the  American 
pretensions.  He  found  nothing  objectionable  in  the  letters 
of  Hutchinson.  He  said  the  address  of  Massachusetts  was 
the  nut  of  falsehood  and  malevolence.  On  the  7th  of  Febru- 
ary he  received  the  report  of  the  privy  council,  and  dismissed 
the  petition  as  groundless,  vexatious  and  scandalous. 


THE   BOSTON   PORT   BILL.  1 55 

So  soon  as  Lord  North  could  prepare  his  measures  for  the 
punishment  of  Boston  he  did  so.  He  introduced  bills  by 
which  the  port  of  Boston  was  to  be  closed  against  foreign 
commerce.  The  army  was  to  be  posted  again  in  the  town. 
Hutchinson,  as  a  civilian,  was  called  to  London,  and  General 
Thomas  Gage,  the  Governor  of  New  York  and  commander  of 
the  military  force  in  America,  was  made  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. He  was  at  this  time  in  London  and  was  at  once 
sent  to  Boston.  All  this  meant  that  the  government  intended 
to  repress,  by  force,  the  disobedience  to  the  home  legislation. 
It  was,  virtually,  a  declaration  of  war. 

Meanwhile  all  the  seaboard  colonies  had  thrown  in  their 
lot  with  Massachusetts.  Each  seaport  had  refused  to  receive 
the  tea.  It  was  sent  home,  or  it  was  stored  and  kept  under 
guard.  But  it  may  be  doubted  if  a  cup  of  tea  was  ever 
made  from  it  in  America ;  and  it  seems  certain  that  not  a 
penny  of  revenue  was  ever  collected  from  this  fatal  enter- 
prise in  which  the  English  government  undertook  the  duties 
of  exporting  merchandise. 

So  soon  as  the  Boston  Port  Bill  became  known  assurances 
of  sympathy  were  sent  to  Boston  from  the  other  colonies. 
With  them  the  colonists  sent  money  and  food  for  the 
support  of  the  people  thrown  out  of  work  by  the  closing  of 
the  port.  The  other  New  England  harbor  towns  offered  to 
receive  Boston  vessels  without  harbor  charges.  They  scorned 
the  temptation  to  build  up  a  prosperity  for  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  their  suffering  friends. 

In  the  Virginia  Assembly,  George  Washington,  who  had 
been  a  leading  member  for  fifteen  years,  said  he  would  gladly 
raise  a  regiment  of  a  thousand  men,  and  march  with  them  to 
Boston,  in  any  effort  to  break  up  the  tyranny  which  had 
made  of  that  town  a  garrison.  The  ist  of  June,  when  the 
Port  Bill  took  effect,  was  celebrated  as  a  day  of  fasting 
throughout  the  colonies.  In  Washington's  diary  are  the 
words,  "  Fasted  all  day." 

Both  sides  prepared  for  war.  The  English  government  re- 
moved to  Boston  regiments  from  other  points  of  America, 


156  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

and  re-enforced  Governor  Gage  from  England,  so  that  before 
the  end  of  the  year  he  had  eleven  regiments — more  than  five 
thousand  soldiers — in  a  town  of  which  the  resident  population 
was  only  ten  or  twelve  thousand.  It  was  difficult  to  provide 
barracks  for  them.  Percy's  brigade  spent  the  winter  in  tents 
on  Boston  Common. 

On  the  other  side,  every  town  in  New  England  was  train- 
ing its  militia  to  arms.  Picked  companies  of  "  Minute-men," 
to  be  ready  to  march  at  a  moment's  notice,  received  special 
discipline.  On  the  1st  day  of  September  Gage  sent  a  force 
by  water  five  miles  up  the  Mystic  River  to  bring  in  some 
powder  from  a  powder-house.  The  echo  to  the  act  was  the 
march  on  Boston  of  thousands  of  men  in  arms,  who  were 
summoned  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Massachusetts 
Assembly.  So  soon  as  it  was  known  that  he  marched  no 
farther  this  movement  was  countermanded.  The  patriot 
leaders  had  determined  that  he  should  not  march  inland. 
Occasionally  he  sent  an  officer  into  the  country  to  gather 
news.  Such  a  messenger  found  that  he  had  to  travel  as 
secretly  as  a  spy  to  conceal  his  position  and  his  object,  and 
that  the  whole  country  was  determined  that  no  military  move- 
ment inland  should  be  made. 

But  this  was  not  a  quarrel  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts 
alone,  nor  of  New  England.  It  never  had  been.  On  the 
5th  of  September  a  congress  of  fifty-five  representatives  from 
eleven  colonies,  called  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Sons  of  Lib- 
erty, of  New  York,  met  at  the  Carpenters'  Hall  in  Phila- 
delphia. It  chose  Peyton  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  its  president, 
and  assumed  the  title  of  Congress.  Patrick  Henry,  George 
Washington,  both  Adamses,  Gadsden  and  Rutledge,  all  of 
whom  afterward  filled  such  important  trusts,  were  members. 
They  agreed  that  each  colony  should  have  one  vote,  because 
Congress  could  not  u  procure  proper  materials  for  ascertain- 
ing the  importance  of  each  colony."  They  resolved  to  meet 
in  secret  session.  They  discussed  the  very  difficult  subject 
^y.  of  their  real  relation  to  the  crown  of  England,  and  they  found 
already  a  wide  difference  of  opinion.     They  voted,  but  not 


CONGRESS  IN   SESSION.  1 57 

unanimously,  an  approval  of  the  opposition  of  Massachusetts 
to  the  late  acts  of  Parliament,  and  that  all  America  ought  to 
support  Massachusetts  in  such  opposition.  By  a  very  narrow- 
majority,  as  an  act  of  concession,  they  recognized  a  certain 
imperial  character  in  Parliament ;  but  they  named  eleven 
acts  of  Parliament  as  violations  of  the  rights  of  the  colonies. 
They  resolved  to  import  no  merchandise  from  Great  Britain  or 
Ireland  after  the  ist  of  December,  and  not  to  export  anything 
to  those  countries,  or  the  West  Indies,  with  the  single  excep- 
tion of  rice.  They  agreed  to  import  no  slaves  after  that  time 
nor  purchase  any  imported — "  We  will  wholly  discontinue  the 
slave  trade,  and  will  neither  be  concerned  in  it  ourselves,  nor 
will  we  hire  our  vessels  or  sell  our  commodities  to  those  who 
are  concerned  in  it." 

Congress  refused  to  petition  Parliament  again  ;  but  it  sent 
addresses  to  the  people  of  all  the  provinces  of  America  and 
to  the  people  of  Great  Britain.  It  appointed  a  second  Con- 
gress to  meet  in  May. 

While  Congress  sat  the  men  of  Massachusetts  watched  the 
governor  and  his  army.  Each  side  was  resolved  that  the 
first  open  act  in  war  should  come  from  the  other.  No  one 
expected  that  such  a  strain  could  last  long; -but  neither  party 
meant  to  give  the  first  stroke.  Massachusetts,  however,  was 
already  practically  independent  of  the  crown.  Since  the 
governor  had  prorogued  the  General  Court  a  "  Provincial 
Assembly,"  which  was  really  the  same  thing,  had  been  chosen, 
and  met  without  his  orders.  This  body  when  it  adjourned 
appointed  a  committee  of  five  to  be  the  executive  of  the  State 
in  its  recess.  It  took  the  visible  sign  of  sovereignty  by 
directing  the  people  not  to  pay  their  taxes  to  the  royal  treas- 
urer, but  to  a  treasurer  appointed  by  itself.  And  the  people 
did  so.  If  any  thing  could  have  shown  the  English  ministry 
that  they  were  really  independent  this  should  have  done  so; 
for  here  the  whole  business  of  government  went  on  among  a  Ll- 
people  who  refused  to  recognize  the  royal  governor.  Justice 
was  administered,  the  regular  courts  were  conducted,  roads 
were  built,  schools  were  kept,  taxes  paid  and  spent  with  the 


153  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

same  regularity  as  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  before. 
But  in  all  this  not  a  penny  was  contributed  at  the  order  of 
the  king  or  his  ministers. 

The  Provincial  Assembly  and  the  Committee  of  Safety 
had  made  stringent  orders  for  the  discipline  of  the  military 
force  of  the  colony.  More  than  this,  they  had  made  some 
purchases  of  military  stores,  not  considerable  in  amount,  but 
important  as  showing  their  purpose.  They  had,  without 
secrecy,  directed  that  these  stores,  among  which  were  some 
cannon  with  powder  and  shot  for  their  use,  and  some  pro- 
visions for  soldiers  on  a  campaign,  should  be  stored  at 
Concord. 

If  Gage  were  to  show  any  sign  of  governing,  here  was  the 
point  of  his  attack.  He  could  not  well  break  up  a  court  of 
justice  held  under  the  authority  of  the  people,  but  he  assured 
himself  of  the  existence  of  these  military  stores  at  Concord, 
and  thought  he  should  feel  the  temper  of  the  people  and 
alarm  them  by  seizing  them.  As  the  snow  and  ice  melted 
away,  int  he  spring  of  1775,  he  showed  that  he  was  not  im- 
prisoned in  Boston,  by  what  he  called  u  a  military  promenade  " 
one  day — going  out  with  one  or  two  regiments  by  one  road, 
on  the  south  of  the  town,  returning  on  another.  The  patri- 
ots were  on  the  watch.  They  declared  that  if  he  had  gone 
further  he  should  have  been  driven  back  by  their  Minute- 
men.  He  sent  one  or  two  detachments  out  by  water,  but 
withdrew  them  at  once.  The  declaration  of  the  Americans 
was  soon  to  be  tested. 

On  the  night  of  the  18th  of  April  a  force  of  about  eight 
hundred  light  infantry  of  the  English  army  were  quietly 
placed  in  boats  and  rowed  across  the  mouth  of  Charles 
River  to  the  place  now  known  as  East  Cambridge.  About 
midnight  they  took  up  their  march  toward  Concord,  about 
eighteen  miles  northwest  from  them.  They  passed  West 
Cambridge,  where  the  Committee  of  Safety  were,  at  three 
o'clock.  They  did  not  know  that  the  executive  of  the  colony 
was  almost  in  their  hands.  But  these  gentlemen  only  escaped 
from  their   beds  by   their  windows,   without  wasting  time  in 


LEXINGTON.  1 59 

dressing.  The  country  behind  them  was  more  thoroughly 
aroused.  Paul  Revere  had  waited  at  Charlestown  till  two  lan- 
terns in  the  North  Church  taught  him  that  the  expedition  had 
moved  by  water.  He  knew  then  that  Concord  was  the  ob- 
ject. Toward  that  town  he  rode,  notifying  the  local  popular 
leaders  on  his  way.  The  Minute-men  turned  out  promptly, 
though  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  At  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning  Parker's  company  paraded  seventy  strong  on  Lex- 
ington Green.  Not  hearing  of  any  enemy  he  directed  them 
to  go  into  the  meeting-house  to  sleep;  and  it  was  not  till  day- 
break that,  on  the  advance  of  the  English,  they  were  again 
called  out  and  formed  as  a  company. 

Major  Pitcairn,  of  the  English  marines,  came  forward  and 
bade  them  disperse.  Parker  himself  saw  that  he  was  wholly 
outnumbered,  and  gave  no  order  to  fire.  Neither  commander 
meant  to  precipitate  the  contest,  and  neither  of  them  did. 
The  word  was  given  by  higher  authority. 

It  seems  probable  that  some  Lexington  man,  without  orders 
from  his  captain,  pulled  his  trigger.  The  gun  flashed  in  the 
pan.  At  the  flash  the  foremost  file  of  English  fired.  Eight 
Americans  fell  dead;  among  these  the  soldier  who  had  drawn 
the  pent-up  fire  of  years.  Their  companions  returned  the 
fire.  One  Englishman  was  killed.  At  Parker's  command 
his  company  retired.  The  English  cheered,  and  continued 
their  advance  to  Concord.     It  was  now  day. 

The  English  force  entered  Concord  about  three  hours 
afterward.  The  Minute-men  of  Concord  withdrew  before 
them  from  the  village  and  joined  the  companies  of  other 
towns  of  Middlesex  county,  gathering  just  outside  the  town 
on  the  north  side  of  Concord  River.  The  English  placed  a 
guard  on  the  bridge  and  began  searching  for  the  artillery  and 
other  stores.  A  part  of  these  had  been  removed  or  con- 
cealed; a  part  were  found  and  set  on  fire.  The  commanders  of 
the  American  Minute-men,  who  were  increasing  in  number 
with  every  hour,  on  seeing  the  smoke  from  Concord,  resolved 
to  force  the  bridge.  The  Acton  company  had  the  honor  of 
leading  the  way.     The  English  fired.     Davis,  the  captain  of 


l6o  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 

the  Acton  company,  was  killed.  His  men  advanced  over  his 
body,  drove  off  the  English  company,  and  knew  that  war  had 
begun. 

In  face  of  such  a  force,  increasing  constantly,  Colonel 
Smith,  the  English  commander,  could  not  tarry.  He  took 
his  wounded  men  and  began  to  retire  on  Boston.  The 
Minute-men  from  all  the  towns  of  eastern  Massachusetts  were 
waiting  for  him  and  searching  for  him.  The  Minute-men  of 
Middlesex,  who  had  formed  at  Concord,  were  pushing  him. 
At  every  point  of  vantage  men  who  knew  every  inch  of  the 
country  attacked  him.  His  retreat  became  a  flight.  He  was 
wounded  himself,  and  could  no  longer  direct  the  movements. 
His  jaded  men,  on  the  run  in  their  panic,  welcomed  with  joy 
at  Lexington  a  re-enforcement  under  Lord  Percy. 

Percy  had  marched  from  Boston  at  nine  in  the  morning, 
through  Roxbury  and  Cambridge,  and  arrived  at  Lexington 
just  in  time  to  save  the  wreck  of  the  first  division.  But  he 
saw  that  he  must  not  linger.  He  took  what  he  could  of  the 
wounded  under  his  escort  and  returned  to  Cambridge  in  as 
good  order  as  he  might.  But  every  stone  wall  was  lined  with 
fire,  and  night  had  fallen,  when,  to  the  anxious  people  of 
Boston  waiting  upon  Beacon  Hill,  the  return  of  the  two  ex- 
peditions was  indicated  by  the  flash  of  the  musketry  on  the 
north  side  of  the  bay.  Percy  withdrew  into  the  peninsula 
of  Charlestown,  stationed  artillery  on  Charlestown  Neck,  and 
the  flight  of  the  English  army  was  over. 

Gage  had  begun  the  war  and  had  been  driven  back  to  his 
quarters. 

The  English  loss  was  73  men  killed,  174  wounded  and  26 
taken  prisoners.  The  American  companies  lost  49  men  killed, 
39  wounded  and  5  prisoners. 

Meanwhile  the  country  was  roused.  North,  west  and  south 
quick  couriers  took  the  news;  and  before  night  towns  as  far 
west  as  the  Connecticut  were  sending  their  contingents  of 
Minute-men  toward  Boston.  General  Ward,  the  head  of  the 
Massachusetts  militia,  took  command.  He  guarded  Boston 
Neck  and  Charlestown  Neck,  that  the  English   should  not 


THE  CONTINENTAL  ARMY.  l6l 

come  out  by  land.  He  built  forts  on  Charles  River  to  pre- 
vent their  coming  by  water.  He  cut  off  all  provisions  from 
Boston.     What  is  called  the  siege  of  Boston  began. 

The  Continental  Congress  met,  meanwhile,  for  the  second 
time  in  Philadelphia.  As  the  delegates  gathered,  men  ob- 
served that  George  Washington,  the  first  delegate  from  Vir- 
ginia, was  in  the  uniform  of  the  provincial  troops  of  that 
colony — the  old  blue  and  buff  of  the  best  days  of  England. 
He  had  traveled,  on  horseback,  from  his  home  to  Phila- 
delphia in  this  dress.  George  Washington  was  widely  known 
as  the  Virginia  Patriot.  For  fifteen  years  he  had  been  the 
leading  member  of  the  Virginia  Assembly.  He  had  com- 
manded her  forces  in  the  end  of  the  last  war.  At  this  time 
he  was  the  richest  man  in  America.  In  the  discussion  at 
tending  the  Port  Bill  he  had  offered  to  equip  a  regiment  and 
march  with  it  to  Boston,  at  his  own  expense,  if  his  services 
were  needed  there  to  preserve  the  liberties  of  America. 

When  the  delegates  to  the  Congress  were  chosen  most  men 
still  hoped  that  a  dignified  protest  would  move  England; 
would  change  the  ministry,  perhaps  ;  would  certainly  procure 
redress.  Almost  all  men  had  great  confidence  in  the  young 
king.  We  know  now  that  he  was  his  own  worst  enemy  and 
America's,  but  good  men  then  thought  that  he  was  hood- 
winked by  bad  men,  and  only  needed  to  be  enlightened. 
Congress  had  hardly  met,  however,  when  the  news  of  Lex- 
ington and  Concord  came.  On  that  news  the  Massachusetts 
Assembly  met.  Besides  their  forces  the  regiments  of  New 
Hampshire,  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  were  in  the  be- 
sieging army.  The  Assembly  urged  Congress  to  assume  this 
army  as  its  own  and  appoint  its  general  officers.  This  was 
to  make  the  army  national,  or,  as  the  fine  phrase  was,  "  Con- 
tinental." 

All  men  understood  that,  while  the  resistance  at  Lexington, 
and  even  the  pursuit  which  followed  the  retreat  from  Concord, 
might  possibly  be  regarded  as  accident,  unauthorized,  such  an 
act  as  the  recognition  of  an  army  was  the  declaration  of  war. 

General  Ward  and  his  army  could  not  wait  the  decision 


1 62  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

of  this  point.  By  a  bold  movement  he  precipitated  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill.  The  English  had  withdrawn  from  the  pe- 
ninsula of  Charlestown  and  left  it  unfortified,  though  it 
could  have  been  held  by  twenty  men.  Ward  and  his  ad- 
visers profited  by  their  oversight.  On  the  night  of  the  16th 
of  June  he  sent  a  force  of  fifteen  hundred  men,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut  and  New  Hampshire  troops,  to  seize 
and  fortify  Bunker  Hill,  behind  the  town  of  Charlestown.  If 
he  could  hold  this  hill  he  could  drive  the  English  navy  from 
the  harbor  of  Boston.  The  men  carried  with  them  entrench- 
ing tools,  and  before  daylight  a  considerable  entrenchment 
was  thrown  up  on  Breed's  farm,  a  spur  of  Bunker  Hill  which 
approached  nearest  Boston. 

Gage  was  taken  entirely  by  surprise;  but  he  acted  promptly, 
even  rashly.  He  had  been  largely  re-enforced  since  the  day 
of  Lexington,  and  had  with  him  Generals  Howe,  Burgoyne 
and  Clinton.  They  made  a  bold  resolution  to  attack  the 
American  redoubt  in  front ;  but  they  were  not  ready  to  attack 
till  the  afternoon.  The  works  grew  stronger  every  hour. 
At  the  first  attack  the  English  troops  broke  and  ran.  They 
were  mostly  men  who  had  never  been  under  fire.  A  second 
attack  was  as  disastrous.  It  was  not  till  the  third  attack  that 
Howe,  who  had  discovered  the  weak  spot  in  the  American 
line,  pressed  them  in  the  rear  of  the  redoubt  while  Pigot  at- 
tacked in  front.  These  attacks  could  have  been  resisted, 
perhaps,  but  the  little  garrison  had  exhausted  its  supply  of 
powder.  Prescott,  the  American  commander,  withdrew  his 
men  to  Bunker  Hill,  where  Putnam  was  fortifying.  The 
English  did  not  follow.  The  Connecticut  contingent,  with 
Stark  and  the  New  Hampshire  men,  had  thrown  up  on  the 
east  a  work  which  they  defended  till  the  failure  of  the  re- 
doubt compelled  them  also  to  withdraw. 

Never  was  a  victory  won  at  such  cost.  The  attacking 
force  of  2,500  men  lost  1,054  in  killed  and  wounded.  Bur- 
goyne wrote  home,  under  the  seal  of  secrecy,  that  the  privates 
misbehaved.  But  the  charge  is  hardly  made  out  when  we 
read  that  of  one  company  of  the  Fifty-second,  led  by  Howe  in 


BUNKER   HILL.  1 63 

person,  every  man  was  wounded  or  killed.  The  American 
loss  was  150  killed,  270  wounded  and  30  prisoners.  In  a 
certain  sense  the  battle  decided  the  war  ;  for  from  this  mo- 
ment the  English  never  undervalued  their  enemy;  and  it  has 
been  said  that  from  this  moment  the  English  troops  were 
never  led  to  the  attack  of  fortified  works  in  the  Revolution. 
The  attack  at  Groton  is  possibly  an  exception,  but  the  large 
fort  there  was  held  by  only  a  handful  of  men.  Burgoyne 
wrote  home  after  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  that  "  The  men 
in  all  the  corps  having  twice  felt  the  enemy  to  be  more  for- 
midable than  they  expected,  it  will  require  some  training 
before  they  can  be  prudently  intrusted  in  many  exploits 
against  such  odds." 


1 64  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

Washington  in  Command. 

Congress  Meets  in  May — Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point — News  from  Lex- 
ington, Concord  and  Boston — Address  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly 
— George  Washington — His  Appearance  in  Blue  and  Buff — His  Ap- 
pointment as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  "  Continental"  Army — Gates 
and  Lee  Appointed  to  Important  Posts — Washington  Takes  Command 
July  3 — Powder  Supply  Low— Arnold's  Quebec  Expedition — It  Fails, 
After  Some  Successes — The  Heights  of  Dorchester — Evacuation  of  Bos- 
ton— "  Hostibus  Primo  Fugatis  " — Lee  Sent  to  New  York,  Then  to 
Charleston — Sea  and  Land  Force  Sent  by  the  Enemy  to  Take  Charles- 
ton— Attack  Begun  by  Clinton — Spirit  of  the  Carolinians — English 
Forces  Obliged  to  Withdraw. 

THE  Continental  Congress  met  on  the  ioth  of  May.  Had 
its  members  known  it,  the  very  night  before  its  meeting 
Ethan  Allen  with  a  band  of  volunteers  from  the  "  Hampshire 
Grants,"  the  region  which  we  now  call  Vermont,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  company  under  Arnold  from  Connecticut,  had 
seized  the  king's  fort  at  Ticonderoga.  Their  possession  of 
Crown  Point  followed.  The  munitions  of  war  thus  taken  were 
of  great  value,  as  it  proved,  to  the  army  besieging  Boston. 

The  Congress  at  once  received  the  news  of  the  march  on 
Lexington,  of  the  uprising  of  the  people,  and  of  the  retreat 
of  the  English  force  and  the  consequent  siege  of  Boston  by 
the  Minute-men  of  the  four  New  England  colonies.  The 
Provincial  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  addressed  Congress 
most  seriously  and  earnestly  by  the  delegates  of  that  colony. 
Massachusetts  begged  Congress  to  assume  the  army  as  its 
own,  and  to  appoint  its  general  officers.  In  conversation  and 
in  public  address  they  soon  pointed  out  George  Washington, 
of  Virginia,  himself  a  member  of  Congress,  as  the  commander- 
in-chief  whom  they  would  prefer. 


n^ 


SIEGE  OF  BOSTON. 


165 


Washington,  as  has  been  said,  had  shown,  in  his  decided 
way,  what  he  thought  the  character  of  the  contest.  To  go  to 
Philadelphia  and  to  attend  the  sessions  of  Congress  he  had 
assumed  the  blue  and  bufTuniform  of  the  Virginia  troops,  whom 
he  had  led  in  battle  to  such  purpose  in  the  late  war.  It  was  the 
uniform  of  England's 
armies  in  England's 
best  days.  The  colors 
of  this  uniform  have 
been  the  symbolic  col- 
ors of  the  parties  of  lib- 
eral opinion  in  England 
from  the  days  of  Crom- 
well to  our  own.  By 
assuming  a  military 
dress  Washington  ex- 
pressed his  opinion. 
He  had  expressed  that 
opinion  in  the  House  of 
Burgesses  of  Virginia. 

On  the  15th  of  June 
he  wTas  appointed  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the 
patriot  army,  and  Con- 
gress  assumed  that 
army  as  the  army  of 
"the  Continent."  This 
phrase,  adopted  now 
for  the  United  States, 
conveyed  the  hope  that 
Canada  and  the  prov- 
ince of  Nova  Scotia  would  join  them.  Florida,  now  under 
the  English  flag,  seemed  also  to  these  men  to  belong  to  the 
nation  which  was  opposing  the  Parliament.  Washington  had 
not  sought,  nor  had  he  expected,  this  appointment.  He  ac- 
cepted it  with  great  modesty,  and  in  private  said  that  he  was 
sure  that  his  public  reputation  would  decline  from  this  day. 


; 


1 66  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Several  major-generals  and  brigadier-generals  were  appointed, 
an  effort  being  made  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  different  colonies. 
Gates  and  Lee,  two  Englishmen,  of  whose  military  capacity 
high  opinions  were  entertained,  were  named  to  important  posts. 
This  selection  proved  afterward  to  be  a  great  misfortune.  Lee 
proved  a  traitor  and  Gates  caballed  against  the  commander- 
in-chief.     Both  have  found  their  true  place  in  history. 

General  Washington  arrived  at  the  camp  on  the  2d  of 
July,  and  took  command  in  form  on  the  3d.  He  appointed 
Ward,  who  was  his  senior  major-general,  to  command  on  the 
right  wing,  which  commanded  the  land  approach  to  Boston. 
The  left  of  Washington's  army  commanded  Charlestown 
Neck,  by  which  also  the  English  army  could  have  marched 
into  the  country.  In  fact,  on  the  critical  day  of  Lexington 
Lord  Percy  had  marched  out  by  the  one  route  and  returned 
by  the  other.  Washington's  army  thus  extended  twelve  miles 
from  the  north-east  by  a  broken  line  toward  the  south. 

Not  long  after  his  arrival  the  discovery  was  made — almost 
fatal — that  the  Americans'  stock  of  powder  was  much  less  than 
had  been  supposed.  They  had  not  nine  rounds  for  every 
man  they  had  under  arms.  It  is  said  that  Washington  was 
silent  for  a  considerable  time  after  this  revelation  was  made. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  conceal  the  need  even  from  the 
army.  Every  effort  was  made  to  supply  it,  and  with  such 
success  that  in  October  Washington  felt  strong  enough  to 
detach  Arnold,  a  spirited  brigadier,  who  had  joined  in  the 
conquest  of  Ticonderoga,  for  an  attack  on  Quebec.  He  was 
to  join  Schuyler,  who  was  in  command  on  Lake  Champlain. 

Arnold  pushed  bravely  and  promptly  through  the  wilder- 
ness of  Maine.  He  arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
in  December.  He  climbed  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  as  Wolfe 
had  done,  and  drove  the  little  English  force  into  the  city.j 
He  then  sent  to  the  other  army,  which  had  in  the  meantime 
taken  St.  John  and  Montreal,  news  of  his  success,  and,  under 
General  Montgomery,  they  joined  him.  On  Christmas  day 
the  American  army  attacked  the  city.  But  Montgomery  was 
killed  and  the  little  force  was  thrown  back  from  the  fortifica- 


SOUTHERN   AFFAIRS.  1 67 

tions.  As  soon  as  spring  opened  Washington  re-enforced  them 
largely  ;  but,  unhappily  for  their  cause,  the  small-pox  broke 
out  in  the  army.  General  Thomas,  a  brave  and  successful 
leader,  died  with  it,  and  the  army  suffered.  It  fell  back  step 
by  step,  and  at  the  end  of  1776  abandoned  Canada.  Success 
at  Quebec,  which  at  one  time  seemed  probable,  would  have 
changed  the  history  of  the  war  ;  for  there  the  Americans 
would  have  found  just  the  munitions  of  war  which  they  so 
much  needed. 

Washington  had  himself  been  more  successful.  On  the 
night  of  the  5th  of  March,  1776,  General  Ward  detached 
General  Thomas,  the  same  who  has  been  spoken  of,  to  seize 
two  hills  in  Dorchester  which  commanded  Boston  harbor  on 
the  south.  Thomas  built  such  strong  works  that  General 
Howe  did  not  dare  attack  them.  The  English  admiral, 
however,  could  not  remain  in  the  harbor  while  the  Americans 
held  them.  Howe  notified  Washington  at  once  that  if  he 
would  not  molest  town  or  shipping  he  would  leave  at  once 
without  injuring  the  town.  This  promise  he  kept,  and  on  the 
17th  of  March,  1776,  the  liberating  army  marched  into  Bos- 
ton in  triumph.  Congress  ordered  a  medal  of  gold  struck 
for  Washington.  It  bears  a  portrait  of  him  and  the  mottoes 
Bostonium  Recuperatum  and  Hostibus  Pritno  Fugatis.  For 
three  months  the  country  was  left  with  hardly  a  foreign  sol- 
dier on  its  soil. 

The  American  leaders  knew  that  the  English  government 
would  make  its  next  great  effort  at  New  York.  So  soon  as 
the  English  fleet  left  the  harbor  of  Boston,  therefore,  Wash- 
ington began  to  dispatch  his  army  to  New  York,  and  sent 
Lee  to  that  city  to  take  charge  of  its  defense  against  an 
enemy.  Lee  never  deceived  himself  or  his  superiors  as  to 
the  possibility  of  holding  the  island  of  New  York  against 
such  a  naval  force  as  the  English  could  command.  But  he 
attempted  to  make  it  what  he  called  disputable  ground,  and 
he  succeeded.     He  was,  however,  soon  called  farther  south. 

General  Clinton,  who  was  next  in  command  to  Howe,  and 
who  knew  America  well,  had  been  put  in  command  of  a  land 


-    ^  &kf& 


168  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

force,  which,  with  the  co-operation  of  a  large  English  fleet,  was 
to  take  the  city  of  Charleston,  in  South  Carolina,  and  so  secure 
a  foothold  in  the  southern  States  for  the  army  which  had 
been  dislodged  from  the  northern.  The  plan  was  the  favorite 
plan  of  the  king,  who  selected  seven  regiments  who  were  to 
carry  it  out,  and  put  them  under  Earl  Cornwallis,  a  brilliant 
young  officer,  who  had  friends  at  court  who  never  forgot  him. 
Clinton,  from  Halifax,  to  which  place  of  refuge  Howe  had 
retired,  joined  this  force,  and  took  command  of  it  at  Wil- 
mington, in  North  Carolina.  To  meet  it  Lee  was  summoned 
from  the  north  and  took  the  command  of  the  Americans  on 
the  4th  of  June,  at  Charleston.  But  the  detail  of  the  history 
seems  to  show  that  the  issue  was  due  not  to  him,  but  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Carolinians  and  the  people  of  Charleston.  Lee 
*-  had  not  then  learned,  and  never  did  learn,  what  is  the  real 
force  of  a  people  determined  to  fight  for  its  rights.  He  was 
always  hampered,  and  on  this  occasion  he  hampered  those 
under  his  command,  by  the  technicalities — to  which  he  gave 
too  much  importance — of  his  military  education. 

On  the  28th  of  June  the  English  moved  to  the  attack  by 
water  and  by  land.  The  Admiral,  Parker,  had  ten  ships — two 
of  them  of  fifty  guns.  Clinton  landed  the  soldiers  on  Long 
Island — to  the  north  of  Sullivan's  Island — on  which  Colonel 
Moultrie  had  built,  and  was  still  building,  the  fort  which  from 
that  day  took  his  name.  Lee  seems  to  have  doubted  whether 
he  could  hold  it,  but  the  Carolinians  staked  all  on  their  suc- 
cess— and  succeeded.  After  a  very  close  fire  the  squadron 
was  withdrawn  with  a  terrible  loss  of  men.  Clinton  was  at 
no  moment  able  to  cross  the  creek  which  separated  him  from 
Sullivan  Island.  And  thus  this  strong  and  well-equipped 
expedition  was  withdrawn — having  been  beaten  off  by  the 
brave  opposition  of  the  people  of  the  province;  who  had  really 
no  assistance  from  the  Continental  army.  Recriminations 
most  bitter  followed  between  the  English  Admiral  Parker, 
who  was  himself  wounded,  and  the  commanders  of  the  land 
forces.  Such  was  the  first  news  which  George  III.  was  to 
receive  of  the  new  campaign. 


FALSE   POSITION.  1 69 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Declaration  of  Independence. 

Congress  in  a  False  Position— Public  Opinion  Changes— Resolutions  of 
Independence  and  Signature  of  the  Declaration— Arrival  of  the  Howes 
in  New  York  Harbor— "The  Olive  Branch  "—It  Does  Not  Answer 
the  Purpose— Howe's  Army  Landed  on  Long  Island — Beats  the 
Americans  There— Washington  Is  Obliged  to  Abandon  New  York- 
Battle  of  White  Plains— Both  Armies  Move  Southward— Washington 
Crossing  the  Delaware— Battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton — With- 
drawal of  Comwallis— Washington  at  Morristown. 

THUS  far  the  war  had  been  carried  on  by  the  colonies 
under  the  declaration,  often  publicly  made,  that  they 
had  no  quarrel  with  the  king,  but  that  they  fought  against  his 
wicked  ministry.  Indeed,  the  Continental  Congress,  while  it 
commissioned  the  officers  of  the  army  to  fight  against  his 
troops,  also  sent  a  petition  to  him  representing,  as  subjects 
might  represent,  the  wrongs  of  his  American  colonies.  But 
every  day  showed  that  it  was  impossible  to  maintain  this  de- 
lusion. No  one,  indeed,  did  more  to  dispel  it  than  George 
III.  himself,  who  was  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
controversy  the  most  resolute  and  blind  enemy  of  the  new- 
born States. 

As  the  winter  of  1775  and  the  spring  of  1776  passed  by, 
men  felt  more  and  more  that  the  position  was  a  false  one. 
In  February,  1776,  men  summoned  to  do  jury  service  in 
Massachusetts  under  the  old  form,  by  "King  George  III.," 
refused  to  serve,  because  they  said  they  owed  him  no  alle- 
giance and  would  render  him  no  service.  At  the  same  time 
Thomas  Paine,  who  had  recently  arrived  from  England,  pub- 
lished a  pamphlet  called  Common  Sense,  which  stated  simply 
that  as  the  colonies  were  independent,  and  did  not  mean  to 
obey  the  king,  they  had  better  say  so.  This  pamphlet  was 
8 


170 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


every-where  read.  Different  State  assemblies  began  to  urge 
Congress  to  take  this  position.  It  was  the  position  which 
Samuel  Adams  had  looked  forward  to  for  years,  and  to  which 
he  and  men  like  him  had  tried  to  educate  the  country. 

Under  the  steady  pressure  of  the  people  the  Congress  fol- 
lowed, rather  than  led,  a  fixed  and  unerring  demand.  On 
the  2d  of  July,  1776,  the  thirteen  States,  in  Congress  assem- 
bled, resolved  unanimously  that  the  "  Thirteen  colonies  are, 
and  of  right  ought  to  be,  independent  States."  The  dele- 
gates signed  the  well-known  Declaration  of  Independence. 
The  day  on  which  the  document  was  engrossed  and  signed  by 


WWJHJ 


most  of  them  was  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  that  day  has  ever 
since  been  celebrated  as  the  birthday  of  the  nation. 

When  the  Declaration  was  signed,  the  nation,  as  has  been 
said,  had  hardly  a  foreign  soldier  on  its  soil.  But  not  many 
days  after  General  Howe  re-appeared,  with  a  fleet  commanded 
by  Lord  Howe,  his  brother,  in  the  harbor  of  New  York.  A 
part  of  this  force  was  the  Boston  army,  recruited  and  re- 
freshed at  Halifax.  A  part  was  from  England  and  a  part  was 
Clinton's  force  from  Carolina.      Altogether,  the  army  num- 


TRENTON. 


171 


bered  thirty-one  thousand  men;  the  largest  army  ever  on  foot 
in  one  place  in  America  until  the  civil  war  of  186 1. 

The  two  Howes  announced  at  once  that  they  had  brought 
"the  olive  branch."  They  had,  indeed,  large  promises  tend- 
ing to  reconciliation.  But  the  English  government  had  not 
yet  contemplated  a  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  they 
had  no  credentials  which  permitted  them  to  acquiesce  in  it. 
After  an  informal  interview  with  a  committee  of  Congress,  there- 
fore, the  "  olive  branch  "  was  withdrawn,  and  General  Howe 
landed  his  army  on  Long  Island  a  little  south  of  Brooklyn. 

Washington  had  occupied  New  York  and  Brooklyn  with 
the  Continental  army,  and  had  fortified  both  places.  He 
was,  however,  largely  outnumbered. 
The  whole  Continental  army  was  not 
equal  to  Howe's,  and  considerable  de- 
tachments of  it  were  in  Canada  and  at 
the  north.  Howe  attacked  the  force 
on  Long  Island  with  spirit,  beat  it  in 
the  battle  of  Long  Island,  August  27, 
and  drove  it  within  its  works  at  Brook- 
lyn. The  loss  of  the  Americans  was 
severe — nearly  three  hundred  killed 
and  wounded  and  almost  one  thousand 
prisoners.  Howe  lost  only  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-seven  men.  When  the  MSB  l  s  u  g 
news  of  this  victory  reached  England  he  was  made  Sir  William 
Howe  by  the  concession  of  the  title  of  a  Knight  of  the  Bath. 

Washington  withdrew  his  army  to  New  York.  The  En- 
glish frigates  ran  by  the  island  in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  stop 
them  by  his  batteries.  He  gradually  withdrew  his  force  up 
Manhattan  Island,  fighting  as  he  went,  but  finally  yielded  the 
island,  excepting  Fort  Washington,  to  Howe,  in  the  latter  part 
of  October.  Howe  followed  him  to  White  Plains,  where  a  bat- 
tle indecisive  in  results  was  fought  on  the  28th  of  October. 
Howe  then  determined  to  cross  the  Jerseys,  perhaps  with  a 
view  of  attacking  Philadelphia.  Washington  crossed  the  North 
River  above  him  and  retired  before  him,  crossing  the  Delaware. 


15 


.- !    /v- 


^;#w:  ^1 


172  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

In  this  change  of  position  he  lost  Fort  Washington,  with 
two  thousand  men,  and  was  obliged  to  abandon  Fort  Lee. 
These  were  the  two  points,  one  on  Harlem  Heights,  the  other 
opposite,  where  the  Americans  had  hoped  to  hold  the  passage 
of  the  Hudson  River. 

Winter  was  coming  on.  With  the  year  ended  the  enlist- 
j  ment  of  Washington's  army.  Repeated  defeats  had  discour- 
aged them.  Lee,  the  second  in  command,  was  taken  prisoner 
while  the  retreat  went  on.  It  has  since  proved  that  Lee  was 
in  treacherous  correspondence  with  the  enemy. 

It  was  then  that  Washington  turned  upon  the  force  so 
largely  his  superior.  "  Now  is  the  time  to  clip  their  wings," 
he  said,  "when  they  are  so  far  spread."  On  the  morning  of 
the  26th  of  December  he  surprised  the  advanced  post  at 
Trenton  and  took  one  thousand  prisoners.  A  few  days  after 
he  cut  the  English  line  of  supplies  at  Princeton,  in  New 
Jersey,  and  took  five  hundred  prisoners.  Cornwallis,  in  com- 
mand of  the  English,  withdrew  hastily  to  Brunswick,  to  pro- 
tect the  supplies  of  the  army  there,  and  Washington,  who  had 
meanwhile  re-enlisted  a  considerable  part  of  his  army,  took 
up  his  winter  quarters  somewhat  to  the  north  of  Brunswick, 
at  Morristown. 


burgoyne's  plans.  173 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Burgoyne  and  the  Campaign  of  1777. 

New  York  Becomes  the  Center  of  English  Operations — General  Sir  John 
Burgoyne — His  Expedition  at  First  Successful — Americans  Defeated 
at  Ticonderoga  and  Hubbardston — Burgoyne's  Detachments  Beaten 
at  Bennington  and  Oriskany  —  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 
Strengthen  Gates's  Army — Burgoyne's  Unsuccessful  Attempts  to 
Break  the  Americans — His  Surrender  at  Saratoga — Howe  Engages 
Washington  at  the  Southward — Battle  of  the  Brandy  wine — Congress 
Obliged  to  Leave  Philadelphia  to  Howe — Battle  of  Germantown — 
Skirmishing  During  the  Autumn — Washington's  Winter  Quarters  at 
Valley  Forge. 

SO  soon  as  the  American  question  came  into  the  hands  of 
military  men  they  advised  the  English  government  to 
make  New  York  the  center  of  their  operations.  So  long  as 
there  had  been  a  theory  that  Boston  had  been  the  only  point 
really  in  rebellion  it  was  natural  that  the  principal  force  for 
the  suppression  of  that  rebellion  should  be  stationed  there. 
But  when  it  was  evident  that  the  "Continent"  was  in  arms, 
the  English  arrangements,  like  those  of  their  enemies,  were 
made  on  a  continental  scale. 

General  John  Burgoyne  had  a  certain  reputation  as  a  mili- 
tary, man  founded  on  very  slight  performances.  He  returned 
to  England  in  1775  and  advised  the  re-enforcement  of  Canada 
by  an  expedition  under  his  own  command,  which  should  be 
strong  enough  to  move  down  the  Hudson  River,  and,  as  the 
dream  of  the  time  suggested,  cut  off  New  England  from  what 
were  thought  to  be  the  more  loyal  colonies  of  the  Middle 
States  and  the  south. 

Fortune  favored  Burgoyne  at  the  beginning.  The  small- 
pox had  more  than  decimated  the  Continental  army  in  Can- 
ada.    It  had  lost  its  best  generals,  with  the  exception  of  Ar- 


174  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

nold,  in  the  death  of  Montgomery  and  Thomas.  It  had  re- 
tired from  the  bold  attack  on  Quebec,  and  in  June  it  aban- 
doned Montreal.  Schuyler,  who  was  for  the  time  in  com- 
mand, was  well  satisfied  to  hold  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point,  at  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  to  defend 
that  highway  into  Canada  through  which  his  army  had  passed 
so  confidently  the  year  before. 

As  1777  began,  Burgoyne,  with  a  well-appointed  and  suffi- 
cient army,  followed  up  the  English  advantage.  In  a  mag- 
nificent fleet  he  sailed  south  along  Lake  Champlain.  St. 
Clair,  who  was  the  American  commander,  abandoned  Crown 
Point,  but  he  hoped  to  hold  Ticonderoga.  By  a  bold  push, 
however,  Burgoyne  seized  the  Sugar  Loaf  hill,  above  the 
fortress,  which  St.  Clair  had  supposed  inaccessible.  It  com- 
manded the  works  entirely,  and  thus  Ticonderoga,  the  key  to 
New  York,  was  lost  by  the  Americans  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
been  gained  two  years  before.  St.  Clair  retired  through  the 
woods,  covering  his  rear  with  a  force  of  thirteen  hundred 
men,  commanded  by  Francis.  They  were  overtaken  at  Hub- 
bardston  and  defeated.  Francis  and  fifty  men  were  killed 
and  three  hundred  men  were  taken  prisoners,  Schuyler 
seemed,  to  the  indignant  people  of  New  England,  to  be  able 
to  do  nothing  but  retreat.  The  executive  of  Massachusetts 
assailed  him  with  contemptuous  letters,  and  told  him  frankly 
that  their  militia  would  not  serve  under  him.  He  and  his 
superiors  were  obliged  to  give  way  under  this  storm  of  indig- 
nation. Gates,  now  the  second  in  command  to  Washington, 
became  commander  to  the  northern  army,  as  it  was  called. 
What  was  more  to  the  point,  as  it  proved,  Arnold  and  Lincoln 
were  directed  to  serve  under  him. 

Burgoyne  slowly  advanced,  keeping  a  line  of  communica- 
tion with  Canada.  Partly  to  feed  his  army,  partly  to  discour- 
age rebellion,  he  sent  out  large  foraging  parties,  as  they  must 
be  called,  to  the  west  and  east.  Both  parties  were  badly  led 
and  came  to  misfortune.  In  Vermont,  Bauin  and  Breyman, 
Hessian  commanders,  were  met  and  beaten  at  Bennington  by 
the  militia  of  the  "  Hampshire  Grants  "  under  General  Stark. 


BURGOYNES  SURRENDER.  175 

They  lost  nearly  one  thousand  men.  At  Oriskany  St.  Leger 
hardly  escaped  from  the  militia  of  the  Americans  under 
Herkimer  and  Willett. 

Burgoyne  himself,  with  the  military  precision  of  an  Aus- 
trian general  of  Daun's  time,  moved  slowly  toward  the  Hudson 
and  crossed  it.  He  hoped  for  co-operation  from  Howe  at  New 
York,  and  always  said  that  he  had  been  encouraged  to  expect 
it.  But  no  aid  came  from  the  south.  The  western  counties 
of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  stripped  themselves  to  the 
last  man  that  they  might  strengthen  Gates.  Lincoln,  the 
Massachusetts  general,  and  Arnold,  from  Connecticut,  were 
in  front  of  Burgoyne.  Burgoyne  attempted  to  break  the 
Americans  in  the  battle  of  Stillwater,  on  the  19th  of  Septem- 
ber, but  he  lost  more  than  six  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  was 
driven  back  to  his  lines.  On  the  7th  of  October  he  renewed 
the  attempt,  to  fail  again.  Meanwhile  his  retreat  to  Lake 
Champlain  was  cut  off.  He  had  an  army  here  in  a  wilder- 
ness and  he  could  not  even  feed  it.  He  received  no  news 
from  Clinton,  whom  Howe  had  detached  to  assist  him,  and  the 
great  result  was,  that  on  the  13th  of  October  he  opened  com- 
munications for  a  surrender  with  Gates,  and  on  the  17th  his 
army  laid  down  their  arms  as  prisoners  of  war.  Five  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  included  in  the  capitu- 
lation. 

The  great  news  flew  to  every  part  of  the  country.  The 
government  of  Massachusetts  sent  a  special  messenger  with 
it  to  Franklin,  in  France.  The  chaise  which  bore  the  for- 
tunate messenger  from  Nantes  rattled  up  into  the  court-yard 
of  Franklin's  house  at  Passy,  near  Paris,  and  the  young  man 
sprang  to  the  ground.  Franklin  had  come  out  to  welcome 
him.  "Is  it  true,  sir,"  said  Franklin,  "  that  Howe  has  entered 
Philadelphia?"  "It  is,  sir,"  said  the  modest  messenger. 
"But  I  have  greater  news  than  that.  General  Burgoyne  and 
his  army  are  prisoners  of  war." 

The  battles  of  Saratoga  have  been  ranked  together  among 
the  fifteen  decisive  battles  of  the  world's  history.  France  no 
longer  doubted  as  to  an  American  alliance.     She  announced 


(f)^Acl<fa     %^^<^ 


176  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

herself  publicly  as  the  friend  of  the  insurgents,  whom  she  had 
before  assisted  secretly.  After  this  the  question  of  formal 
independence  was  only  a  question  of  time. 

Meanwhile,  Howe  had  supposed  that  he  should  best  assist 
Burgoyne  by  drawing  Washington  to  the  south,  away  from 
the  Northern  army.  It  was  afterward  said  that  the  despatches 
which  ordered  him  to  move  directly  north  to  meet  Burgoyne 
were  left,  unsent,  in  a  pigeon-hole  in  the  English  war-office, 
because  Lord  George  Germaine,  the  minister  of  the  colonies, 
did  not  like  the  hand-writing  and  ordered  them  copied.  It 
is  said  that  the  copy  was  forgotten  and  Howe  left  to  follow 
his  own  purpose. 

From  a  military  point  of  view  that  purpose  can  be  well 
defended.  But  it  was  Washington  to  whom  Howe  was  op- 
posed ;  and  Washington  was  so  true  to  the  nation  and  so 
indifferent  to  his  own  reputation  that  he  stripped  himself  of 
every  available  man  and  of  all  necessary  supplies  to  strengthen 
Gates,  who,  so  soon  after,  appeared  as  his  rival.  When  Howe 
sailed,  with  most  of  his  army,  from  New  York,  Washington 
thought  for  a  moment  that  he  was  threatening  Boston.  But 
the  squadron  was  soon  reported  at  the  south-west,  and  Wash- 
ington then  moved  his  army  to  cover  Philadelphia.  For  five 
weeks  of  doubt  Howe's  squadron  did  not  appear.  Men  even 
thought  he  had  gone  so  far  as  Charleston.  But  at  the  end  of 
August  it  was  announced  that  he  was  in  Chesapeake  Bay. 
He  thus  avoided  the  American  fortifications  on  the  Delaware 
and  drew  Washington  even  farther  from  the  north. 

Washington  attempted  to  resist  his  progress  at  the  River 
Brandywine,  and  fought  a  battle  there  on  the  nth  of  Sep- 
tember. But  his  generals  were  out-maneuvered  by  the  skill 
of  Cornwallis  and  Knyphausen,  and  he  was  forced  to  retreat 
and  leave  Howe  an  open  passage  to  Philadelphia.  Congress, 
meanwhile,  removed  with  its  papers  to  Lancaster.  On  the 
4th  of  October  Washington  attacked  Germantown,  a  suburb 
of  Philadelphia.  For  a  moment  he  seemed  to  have  succeeded, 
but  again  his  generals  retired,  and  he  was  obliged  to  acknowl- 
edge another  failure  to  Congress  and   the  country.     But  he 


VALLEY   FORGE.  1 77 

lost  nothing  in  reputation.  In  Europe  the  steadiness  of  the 
attack  on  Germantown,  immediately  after  a  defeat,  was  no- 
ticed as  a  proof  that  this  was  an  army,  and  not  an  armed  mob, 
which  he  commanded.  And  for  many  weeks  the  country 
held  the  opinion,  which  John  Adams  expressed  in  a  private 
letter,  that  "Howe  was  in  his  hands."  When  the  news  of 
Burgoyne's  surrender  arrived  in  Pennsylvania,  in  the  enthu- 
siasm of  victory  the  American  leaders  wrote  to  their  friends 
that  they  might  soon  expect  to  hear  of  a  second  capitulation. 
This  was  not  to  be.  The  American  forts  on  the  Delaware, 
which  were  relied  upon  to  separate  the  English  army  from 
its  supplies,  gave  way,  and  the  autumn  afterward  was  spent 
in  skirmishes,  which  sometimes  almost  claim  the  dignity  of 
battles,  between  foraging  parties  of  the  English,  and  Amer- 
ican light  troops  who  tried  to  check  them.  When  winter 
came  Washington  took  his  army  into  winter  quarters  at  Val- 
ley Forge,  not  far  west  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  Schuylkill ; 
a  post  from  which  he  could  observe  every  movement  into 
the  country  by  Howe,  had  that  indolent  commander  made 
any. 

8* 


78  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

1778-1779. 

The  Alliance  with  France — Clinton's  Appointment  to  Howe's  Position — 
The  Battle  of  Monmouth — Arrival  of  a  French  Fleet — Advantages 
of  the  Alliance — Reasons  for  British  Inactivity — Military  Exploits  at 
the  North  and  South — Results  of  the  Year  1779. 

SO  soon  as  the  critical  news  of  the  success  at  Saratoga 
arrived  in  France  the  king  and  his  cabinet  gave  way  to 
the  pressure  of  public  opinion  and  announced  their  willing- 
ness to  recognize  America  as  independent,  and  to  make  a 
treaty  of  alliance  with  her.  This  treaty  was  not  at  once  ac- 
companied by  an  open  declaration  of  war  with  England. 
Lord  North  hoped,  for  a  moment,  that  he  might  yet  conciliate 
the  colonies  and  reserve  the  whole  power  of  England  for  a 
war  with  France.  He  sent  new  commissioners,  with  larger 
powers  than  before,  to  induce  Congress  to  make  terms  of 
peace,  this  time  recognizing  that  body  as  the  executive  of 
America.  But  he  was  too  late,  as  he  always  was  in  such 
proposals. 

General  Howe  had  owed  his  advancement  in  the  army  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  descendant,  by  an  illegitimate  line,  of 
George  I.  He  had  shown  courage  at  Quebec  and  at  Bunker 
Hill,  and  of  the  latter  battle  he  had  borne  away  the  honors. 
He  had  been  named  as  Gage's  successor  after  Gage  was  with- 
drawn, and  after  his  own  signal  success  at  Brooklyn  he  had 
been  knighted.  But  he  was  indolent,  and  lacked  enterprise. 
He  had  failed  in  his  own  theory  of  relieving  Burgoyne  by  tak- 
ing away  his  enemy,  and  as  the  winter  passed  he  also  was 
recalled  to  England  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  appointed  to 
succeed  him.  Clinton  knew  America  well.  He  was  the  son 
of  one  of  the  royal  governors  of  New  York. 

Clinton   knew  that  a   French  fleet  was  approaching  him. 


DESTAINGS    SQUADRON.  1 79 

He  left  Philadelphia  with  his  whole  army  of  fourteen  thou- 
sand men  and  marched  across  the  Jerseys  to  New  York, 
closely  followed  and  watched  by  Washington.  At  Monmouth 
Washington  attacked  him,  or  ordered  an  attack.  Lee  insisted 
on  his  right  to  command  the  attacking  party  after  it  had  been 
assigned  to  Lafayette.  Lee's  misbehavior,  or  his  treachery, 
discouraged  the  attack  after  it  seemed  to  begin  successfully, 
and  Washington  met  him  in  full  retreat.  Washington  gave 
him  a  rebuke  which  showed  his  impetuosity  when  he  was 
excited,  took  command  of  the  retreating  forces  and  restored 
the  hope  of  victory.  But  it  was  too  late  to  win  all  the  hon- 
ors. The  terrible  heat  of  that  summer's  day  was  long  made  a 
proverb  in  America.  Each  party  claimed  the  victory,  and  the 
losses,  which  were  considerable  on  each  side,  showed  that  it 
had  been  a  bravely  contested  field.  Each  side  lost  nearly 
four  hundred  men. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  the  French  government 
detached  a  strong  fleet  under  the  Count  D'Estaing  into 
American  waters.  It  was  hoped  and  supposed  that  by 
breaking  up  the  supremacy  of  the  English  by  sea  the  Amer- 
ican armies  might  be  the  superior  by  land.  Had  D'Estaing 
arrived  a  few  days  earlier  all  might  have  happened  which  was 
hoped  for  ;  for  his  fleet  was  superior  to  the  English,  and  had 
he  cooped  them  up  in  the  Delaware  bay  the  English  army  in 
Philadelphia  might  have  been  starved,  or  beaten  in  the  field. 

But  Clinton  had  already  withdrawn  to  New  York,  sending 
his  fleet  round  to  the  bay  of  New  York.  They  left  the  Del- 
aware only  a  few  days  before  D'Estaing's  arrival.  D'Estaing 
followed  them,  and  bravely  attempted  to  enter  New  York  har- 
bor; but  the  pilots  declined  to  take  in  such  heavy  vessels,, 
and  after  lying  a  few  days  in  the  offing  he  went  to  Rhode 
Island,  where,  on  his  approach,  the  English  burned  twenty  of 
their  vessels  to  keep  them  from  his  hands. 

General  Sullivan,  with  the  militia  of  Massachusetts  and 
Rhode  Island,  at  once  attempted  an  attack  on  the  English 
force  at  Newport,  with  the  assistance  of  D'Estaing's  squadron. 
But  at  this  juncture  Lord  Howe,  the  English  admiral,  boldly 


l80  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

threatened  D'Estaing,  who  went  to  sea  to  fight  him.  The 
action  was  indecisive,  but  D'Estaing  took  up  his  way  to  Bos- 
ton harbor  to  refit.  Sullivan  and  his  army  considered  them- 
selves deserted.  He  attacked  the  English  lines  with  courage, 
however,  but  without  success,  and  on  the  news  of  English 
re-enforcements  withdrew.  The  English  general,  not  finding 
D'Estaing  or  Sullivan,  destroyed  New  Bedford,  which  he 
rightly  considered  a  nest  of  privateers. 

The  Americans  generally  were  disappointed  that  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  French  alliance  were  so  slight ;  but  such 
disappointment  was  unreasonable.  French  stores  clothed  and 
armed  the  Continental  army  that  year.  A  fortunate  capture  of 
English  store-ships  enabled  Massachusetts  to  fit  out  D'Estaing 
for  the  West  Indies.  His  supremacy  at  sea  kept  the  English 
squadron  virtually  on  the  defensive.  In  short,  the  rest  which 
the  country  gained  from  all  critical  operations  for  the  year 
1778  was  the  legitimate  result  of  the  French  alliance. 

In  one  of  Cowper's  poems,  which  was  written  about  this 
period,  he  speaks  of  the  English  army  as  drugged  at  New 
York.  Doubtless  his  amazement  at  the  inaction  of  an  army 
so  costly  and  so  largely  supplied  was  shared  by  m$st  of  his 
countrymen.  Such  inaction  was  not  due  wholly  to  the  indo- 
"X  lence  of  generals,  though  it  was  convenient  to  assign  it  to 
that  cause.  The  king  was  always  arbitrary,  and  determined 
to  persevere  in  his  mad  colonial  system  even  after  wiser  men 
saw  its  absurdity.  Lord  North  was  anxious  for  conciliation. 
But  he  already  knew  the  fatal  secret  of  the  king's  incipient 
insanity,  and  he  dared  not  thwart  him.  Meanwhile  the  im- 
mense force  of  American  privateers  was  sweeping  the  seas. 
Rates  of  insurance  became  formidable,  and  the  merchants  of 
London  were  no  longer  enthusiastic  supporters  of  the  war. 
They  were  bearing  its  charges  and  knew  they  were.  All  these 
reasons  conspired  in  compelling  Lord  North  to  hold  the  king's 
rage  in  check  as  well  as  he  could,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  dared  not  make  peace.  The  confused  condition  of  things 
in  which  he  found  himself  after  Burgoyne's  defeat  and  the 
open  French  alliance  accounts  for  a  certain  languor  in  his 


MASSACRE   OF   WYOMING.  l8l 

prosecution  of  the  war.  In  another  chapter  the  reader  will 
learn  how  active  was  the  work  of  the  American  cruisers  at 
sea,  and  how  much  it  had  to  do  in  depressing  in  England  the 
rage  for  conquest.  In  the  very  year  of  which  we  have  sketched 
the  passage,  the  stores  which  were  intended  for  the  English 
fleet  were,  in  fact,  captured  by  Massachusetts  cruisers,  were 
taken  into  Boston  harbor,  and  were  used,  as  has  been  said,  for 
the  outfit  of  D'Estaing's  fleet  on  its  way  to  the  West  Indies. 

It  was,  however,  in  this  summer,  when  the  larger  armies 
were  more  at  rest,  that  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  Wyoming, 
on  the  upper  Susquehanna,  the  terrible  massacre  took  place 
which  is  indissolubly  connected  with  that  name.  In  the  au- 
tumn of  the  same  year  the  Indians  of  the  Six  Nations,  who 
had  to  revenge  themselves  for  the  losses  they  had  suffered  at 
Oriskany,  attacked  and  burned  Cherry  Valley,  in  New  York. 
In  May  of  the  same  summer  Captain  Rogers  Clark,  one  of 
the  brave  pioneers  of  Kentucky,  had  surprised  and  seized 
the  English  forts  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Illinois. 

As  1779  opened  the  English  thought  to  carry  the  scene  of 
the  war  to  the  South,  where,  as  they  supposed,  they  had  more 
allies  than  at  the  North.  Colonel  Campbell  was  sent  with 
two  thousand  men  to  reduce  Savannah,  and  proceeded  to  do 
so.  Lincoln  was  then  appointed  by  Congress  to  command 
the  American  forces.  The  English  raised  some  loyalist 
troops,  and  these  and  the  patriot  militia  kept  up  what  we 
have  since  learned  to  call  a  "  Guerrilla  Contest  "  through 
Georgia  and  both  the  Carolinas,  with  great  bitterness  on  each 
side.  On  the  nth  of  May,  General  Provost,  in  command  of 
the  English,  summoned  Charleston  to  surrender.  But  his 
demand  was  refused,  and  after  threatening  the  city  for  some 
time  he  retired  upon  Savannah. 

At  the  North,  Governor  Tryon,  with  a  body  of  loyalists,  as 
they  were  called,  and  enough  English  regiments  to  make  up 
three  thousand  men,  seized  and  plundered  New  Haven  and 
Norwalk,  only  to  withdraw  again.  Clinton  had  already  taken 
the  forts  on  the  Hudson  at  Stony  Point  and  Verplanck's 
Point.     Under  Washington's   direct  orders   General  Wayne, 


I 


1 82  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

already  known  as  "  Mad  Anthony,"  stormed  Stony  Point  at 
midnight  on  the  15th  of  July  and  took  five  hundred  prison- 
ers and  fifteen  pieces  of  cannon.  On  the  19th  of  August 
Major  Lee  (Light  Horse  Harry)  surprised  Paulus  Hook,  now 
Jersey  City,  and  carried  off  its  garrison. 

In  August  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  acting  on  its  own 
account,  undertook  to  assert  its  own  empire  on  the  Penobscot 
River,  where  its  government  then  extended,  as  the  Province  of 
Maine  belonged  to  it.  With  a  fleet  of  three  Continental  ves- 
sels, three  ships  of  the  State  navy  and  thirteen  privateers,  she 
sent  a  thousand  men  to  reduce  the  English  post  there.  But 
the  fort  proved  too  strong  for  capture  by  assault,  and  while 
squadron  and  army  waited  for  slower  approach  they  were 
shut  in  by  an  English  fleet  of  five  ships.  Saltonstall,  the 
American  commander,  thought  this  too  strong  a  force  to  re- 
sist, and  burned  his  fleet,  which  consisted  of  smaller  vessels. 
The  sailors  and  troops  returned  home  by  land,  Lovel  and  Sal- 
tonstall, their  commanders,  sadly  disgraced  by  their  failure. 

With  such  events,  of  which  none  were  of  critical  impor- 
tance, the  year  1779  passed  by.  Men  were  discouraged 
that  nothing  more  important  followed  on  the  sacrifices  of  the 
war.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  where  the  armies  were  not  in 
the  presence  of  each  other — that  is  to  say,  in  three  fourths  of 
the  country,  men  went  on  with  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  agri- 
culture as  if  the  new  nation  were  at  peace.  The  Eastern 
States,  cut  off  as  they  were  from  the  fisheries  to  which  they 
were  accustomed,  were  fitting  out  their  vessels  as  privateers 
and  went  in  quest  of  more  dangerous  game.  They  not  only 
crippled  the  commerce  of  England,  but  they  opened  new 
channels  for  their  own  and  considerably  enriched  the  coun- 
try by  the  prizes  which  they  brought  in. 

All  men  knew,  however,  that  France  must  enter  the  con- 
flict on  a  larger  scale  in  another  year.  The  year  1779  had 
seen  an  inefficient  plan  for  a  French  descent  upon  the  Irish 
coast  or  that  of  Jersey,  which  did  not,  however,  assume  any 
considerable  proportions.  More  efficient  co-operation  with 
America  was  proposed  for  1780. 


NAVAL   WARFARE.  1 83 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  War  at  Sea. 

Seizure  of  English  Vessels — Commissions  Given  to  Privateers  and  Equip- 
ment of  Vessels — Navy  of  Twenty-six  Vessels — Numerous  Privateers 
— Important  Captures — Ezekiel  Hopkins  and  His  Captures — John  Paul 
Jones — Depredations  on  the  English  Coast — Wickes  of  the  Reprisal 
— His  Prizes  off  the  French  Coast — Complaints  of  Lord  Stormont,  and 
Connivance  of  Vergennes — Wickes  is  Lost  on  the  Home  Voyage — Gus- 
tavus  Conyngham  Sails  from  Dunkirk — He  Captures  the  Harwich 
Packet — He  and  Ilis  Crew  Detained  as  Prisoners,  but  Soon  Released 
— Subsequent  Exploits  in  the  Narrow  Seas — Captured  and  Imprisoned 
in  England — His  Escape — Miserable  Condition  of  American  Prison- 
ers in  England — Black  Prince  and  Princess  and  Feamot — John  Paul 
Jones  of  the  Ranger  Cruises  on  the  Scotch  Coast — Bon  Homme  Ric/iard 
— Expedition  on  the  English  Coast  with  Four  Other  Vessels — Baltic 
Fleet,  Convoyed  by  the  Serapis  and  the  Countess  of  Scarborough — 
Jones's  Victoiy. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  battle  of  Lexington  had  begun 
the  war,  the  seizure  of  one  or  two  English  vessels  by  the 
people  of  the  sea-ports  of  the  New  England  States  made  the 
first  steps  in  what  became  a  very  important  part  of  the  con- 
test. As  the  reader  already  knows,  Washington  commissioned 
vessels  in  the  first  summer  of  his  command.  The  State  of 
Massachusetts  gave  commissions  to  privateers  also,  and 
other  States  followed  the  same  example.  It  was  the  earnest 
wish  of  John  Adams  that  the  country  should  go  with  spirit 
into  the  formation  of  a  navy;  and  as  early  as  the  13th  of 
October,  1775,  Congress  authorized  the  equipment  of  two 
cruisers,  and  before  the  end  of  that  year  directed  that  fifteen 
vessels  should  be  built.  Many  of  these  vessels  never  got  to 
sea,  having  been  blockaded  in  the  rivers  where  they  were 
built,  and  burned  to  escape  capture  from  the  enemy.  But 
from  this  time  forward  the  navy  and  the  privateers  bore  an 


.y)  {^..A^ff^^f 


I84  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

important  part  in  the  war,  and  probably  the  injuries  which 
they  inflicted  upon  the  commerce  of  England  had  a  larger 
share  than  any  successes  on  the  land  in  changing  the  public 
opinion  of  England  with  regard  to  the  independence  of 
America. 

Before  October,  1776,  the  little  navy  consisted  of  26  vessels, 
which  mounted  526  guns.  The  force  of  privateers  was  very 
much  larger.  These  vessels  cruised  in  all  parts  of  the  Atlan- 
tic. Before  the  1st  of  February,  1777,  25°  English  vessels 
in  the  West  India  trade  alone  had  been  captured  by  the 
Americans.  Their  value  was  estimated  at  ten  million  dol- 
lars. In  the  year  1777,  467  vessels  of  the  English  commercial 
fleet  were  captured.  Nearly  half  of  the  fleet  which  traded 
directly  between  Ireland  and  the  West  Indies  was  taken; 
and  of  the  vessels  in  the  African  trade  only  40  escaped  out 
of  400.  The  next  year  the  captures  were  even  larger. 
Before  the  end  of  1780  the  largest  of  the  three  admiralty 
districts  of  Massachusetts  had  condemned  818  prizes  in  all. 
In  the  next  year,  1781,  the  port  of  Salem  alone  sent  to  sea  59 
privateers.  Of  these,  12  carried  20  guns  or  more.  The 
whole  fleet,  from  that  port  only,  carried  nearly  4,000  men, 
and  mounted  746  guns. 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  the  privateer  fleet  of  the  country 
was  much  larger  than  what  was  called  the  national  navy. 
It  was  also,  on  the  whole,  much  more  successful.  It  is 
impossible,  in  such  a  history  as  this,  to  go  into  the  details  of 
the  different  adventures,  whether  of  the  navy  or  of  the  priva- 
teers. We  must  be  satisfied  by  giving  some  slight  account  of 
the  more  important  expeditions  and  their  results.  The 
school  of  the  navy  and  the  privateer  service  proved  a  very 
valuable  training  for  the  future  of  the  country.  And  many 
men  who  afterward  distinguished  themselves  in  naval  war- 
fare learned  their  first  lesson  in  the  hardships  of  these 
voyages. 

The  appointments  made  to  the  navy  begin  with  a  list  of 
officers  named  by  Congress  on  the  22d  of  December,  1775. 
Of  these  Ezekiel  Hopkins,  of  Rhode  Island,  was  the  com- 


EZEKIEL   HOPKINS.  1 85 

mander-in-cbief.  Hopkins  was  then  put  in  charge  of  a  little 
squadron  which  was  sent  to  the  Bahamas,  in  the  hope, 
which  was  not  disappointed,  of  obtaining  a  supply  of  pow- 
der and  other  munitions,  so  much  needed,  from  the  capture 
of  the  English  forts  there.  On  his  return  with  his  little 
fleet  Hopkins  engaged  a  small  English  squadron  off  Block 
Island,  with  an  indecisive  result.  He  incurred  popular  dis- 
pleasure on  account  of  his  failure  in  this  transaction,  and 
eventually  he  was  practically  dropped  from  the  lists  of  the 
navy.  But  he  showed  the  mistake  of  those  who  superseded 
him  by  the  spirit  with  which  he  engaged  in  the  privateer 
service,  in  which  he  had  great  success.  It  is  said  of  him 
that  in  a  vessel  under  his  command  he  once  actually  joined 
the  West  India  fleet  under  convoy  of  an  English  officer,  and 
that  every  night  he  captured  one  vessel  of  that  fleet  and  sent 
a  prize  crew  on  board  until  he  had  made  ten  different  prizes, 
when  he  withdrew  himself  successfully.  It  is  said  that  of 
the  prizes  taken  in  this  single  expedition  the  value  was  a 
million  dollars. 

Among  the  lieutenants  commissioned  in  this  first  list  of 
naval  officers  was  John  Paul  Jones.  He  served  under  Hop- 
kins in  these  early  battles,  and  afterward,  in  command  of  a 
small  vessel,  took  several  prizes  in  and  near  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence.  On  his  return  to  America  he  was  disappointed 
at  finding  that  the  rank  assigned  him  was  very  low,  and  he 
made  a  personal  visit  to  Philadelphia  and  there  obtained  the 
command  of  the  cruiser  Ranger,  which  he  took  to  Europe. 
This  was  just  after  Burgoyne's  defeat,  and  he  had  hoped  to 
be  able  to  carry  the  news  of  that  great  event  to  the  American 
commissioners  in  Paris.  In  this  he  was  disappointed.  But 
he  refitted  the  Ranger  for  sea,  and  in  the  next  year  took  the 
Drake,  an  English  vessel  of  nearly  equal  force,  and  brought 
her  into  harbor.  This  action  gave  him  great  distinction 
among  the  people  of  France,  who  were  very  cordially  dis- 
posed toward  America,  and  put  him  in  position  to  seek  a  higher 
command.  There  was  at  one  time  some  prospect  of  his 
receiving  this   command  in  the  French   navy.     But  circum- 


1 86  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 

stances  made  this  impossible,  and  another  arrangement  was 
made  for  him. 

The  American  cruisers  had  been  a  terror  on  the  English 
coast  for  more  than  a  year  before.  The  depredations  of  Cap- 
tain Conyngham,  in  particular,  had  wrought  a  panic  in  the 
maritime  circles. 

When  Franklin,  Deane  and  Lee  were  chosen  to  constitute 
the  American  mission  in  Paris,  one  of  their  various  duties 
was  to  be  the  procuring  of  ships  for  the  American  navy.  It 
was  also  thought  possible  that  cruisers  might  be  fitted  out  on 
the  continent  to  sail  under  American  commissions  and  harass 
the  English  trade.  The  second  of  these  plans  proved  more 
easy  than  the  first.  Franklin  sailed  from  America  on  the  27th 
of  October,  1776,  in  the  frigate  Reprisal,  of  which  Wickes 
was  captain.  He  reached  Nantes  on  the  7th  of  December. 
The  voyage  was  not  a  long  one,  nor  had  it  been  eventful. 
Twice  had  the  Reprisal  been  chased  by  English  cruisers,  but 
at  no  time  had  there  been  any  imminent  danger.  Wickes  had 
also  made  prizes  of  two  English  ships  which  he  came  upon 
shortly  after  reaching  the  coast  of  France.  These  he  disposed 
of  as  quickly  as  possible  and  proceeded  to  refit  his  ship.  In 
the  meantime  he  went  about  the  seaports  of  western  France 
to  see  if  there  might  not  be  some  ships  for  sale  in  one  or  an- 
other which  would  be  suitable  for  use  in  the  American  navy. 
It  had  been  expected  that  some  such  ship  should  be  obtained 
and  that  Wickes  should  be  put  in  command  of  it.  He  recom- 
mended Nicholson  as  a  good  man  to  take  command  of  the 
Reprisal,  in  case  he  should  be  provided  for.  When  his  ship 
was  ready,  in  the  summer  of  1777,  he  went  to  sea  and  picked 
up  some  five  prizes,  with  which  he  returned  to  L'Orient. 
These  captures  created  much  disturbance.  Lord  Stormont, 
the  English  Ambassador,  complained  bitterly  to  the  French 
court  that  American  vessels  should  be  allowed  to  refit  in 
French  ports  and  then  issue  thence  to  prey  upon  English 
commerce.  The  whole  proceeding  was,  in  truth,  an  open  vio- 
lation of  the  neutrality  of  France,  of  which  that  nation  would 
have   undoubtedly  taken   some  serious  notice  had  she  not 


FRENCH    NEUTRALITY.  1 87 

been  favorably  disposed  toward  the  Americans,  whom,  indeed, 
she  was  secretly  aiding  by  money  and  munitions  in  their 
struggle.  Although  Vergennes,  the  French  minister,  was  in- 
clined to  wink  at  these  acts  of  Wickes,  he  was  forced  by  his 
regard  for  appearances  to  do  something.  He  sent  orders  to 
L'Orient  that  Wickes  should  quit  that  port  within  twenty- 
four  hours.  This  could  not  be  done,  for  the  Reprisal  was 
hauled  up  for  repairs.  In  time,  however,  Wickes  left  L'Orient 
and  sailed  for  Nantes,  where  he  went  on  with  his  refitting. 
Being  ordered  out  of  Nantes  he  returned  to  L'Orient,  and 
joining  the  Lexington,  privateer,  and  the  Dolphin,  cutter,  he 
sailed  on  another  cruise  as  successful  as  the  first.  They  had 
captured  seventeen  prizes,  when  they  were  chased  by  a  large 
ship-of-war.  Wickes  escaped  to  St.  Malo  after  throwing  his 
guns  overboard  to  lighten  his  ship.  He  was  much  irritated  by 
the  behavior  of  the  English  ship.  "  They  pay  very  little  re- 
gard to  the  laws  of  neutrality,"  he  writes,  "  as  they  chased  me 
and  fired  as  long  as  they  dared  stand  in,  for  fear  of  running 
ashore."  Wickes  himself  was  one  of  the  most  flagrant  vio- 
lators of  neutrality,  though  he  seems  to  have  been  quite  un- 
conscious of  it.  His  proceedings  in  French  ports  were  as 
much  breaches  of  neutrality  as  was  the  Englishman's  chasing 
him  within  the  maritime  league  which  is  reserved  by  inter- 
national law.  These  were,  however,  Wickes's  last  exploits. 
He  shortly  sailed  for  America.  He  never  reached  his  own 
country,  however,  for  he  and  his  ship  were  lost  on  the  return 
voyage  off  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  where  all  on  board, 
but  one,  perished.  For  themselves  these  operations  were  of 
no  very  great  importance.  Wickes  inflicted  no  very  great 
damage  on  English  commerce,  although  he  made  some  stir. 
The  next  achievement  of  the  American  navy  was  more  im- 
portant. 

Deane,  one  of  the  commissioners  in  Paris,  had  long  had  at 
heart  the  fitting  out  of  an  expedition  to  cruise  in  the  channel 
and  pick  up  the  English  merchantmen.  In  conjunction  with 
William  Hodge  he  fitted  out  a  small  lugger  at  Dunkirk  and 
commissioned  Gustavus  Conyngham  as  captain.     Conyngham 


1 88  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

sailed  in  the  summer  of  1777,  and,  coming  across  the  mail 
packet  from  Harwich,  he  easily  made  prize  of  it  and  returned 
to  Dunkirk.  This  expedition  was  such  a  breach  of  neutrality 
that  the  French  court  could  not  let  it  pass  unnoticed.  The 
packet  was  returned,  and  Conyngham  and  his  crew  were 
detained  as  prisoners.  They  did  not  remain  in  confinement 
long,  however.  Deane  and  Hodge  fitted  out  another  vessel  for 
Conyngham,  and,  obtaining  his  release  and  that  of  his  crew, 
they  sent  him  to  sea  again,  assuring  the  French  court  that  the 
voyage  was  for  trading  purposes  only.  Conyngham,  as  soon 
as  he  got  to  sea,  made  prize  of  every  thing  he  could.  He 
hovered  about  the  English  towns  and  endeavored  to  burn  the 
town  of  Lynn,  but  unsuccessfully.  He  was  finally  driven  from 
the  narrow  seas  and  found  refuge  in  Corunna,  whence  he  sailed 
for  America.  On  the  way  he  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  capt- 
ured by  the  Galatea  and  carried  a  prisoner  into  New  York. 
Thence  he  was  sent  prisoner  to  England  to  be  tried  as  a 
pirate,  for  it  was  pretended  that  he  had  had  no  commission 
when  he  captured  the  Harwich  packet.  But  being  confined 
in  the  Mill  Prison,  Plymouth,  he  succeeded  in  breaking  out, 
with  some  fifty  of  his  fellow-prisoners,  and  making  his  way  to 
Amsterdam. 

This  is  a  proper  place  to  say  a  word  in  regard  to  the 
American  prisoners  who  were  confined  in  England.  They 
consisted  of  seamen  taken  in  merchantmen  or  in  ships-of- 
war.  There  were  about  a  thousand  of  them,  more  or  less, 
and  their  condition  was  most  miserable.  Franklin  was  unre- 
mitting in  his  labors  to  effect  an  exchange.  He  had  at  his 
control  some  few  English  prisoners,  but  for  a  long  time  he 
could  not  arrange  a  cartel.  The  reason  of  this  seems  to  be 
that  as  long  as  France  was  at  peace  with  England  there  was 
no  way  of  securing  the  prisoners  taken  on  the  French  coast 
by  American  cruisers.  They  could  not  be  confined  on  shore; 
they  were  too  numerous  to  be  kept  on  shipboard.  Hence 
they  were  generally  discharged  on  giving  their  word,  each  that 
he  would  release  one  American  prisoner.  But  these  paroles 
were  repudiated,  and  not  unjustly,  by  the  English  authorities. 


JOHN  PAUL  JONES.  1 89 

Thus  Franklin  could  not  collect  any  considerable  number  of 
English  prisoners,  and  no  exchange  could  be  effected.  After 
France  declared  for  America  the  English  became  more  will- 
ing to  make  the  exchange,  for  the  Englishmen  captured  by 
the  American  cruisers  were  put  into  French  prisons.  A  cartel 
was  finally  brought  about  and  a  number  of  the  prisoners  were 
exchanged. 

The  Black  Prince,  privateer,  and  her  consorts,  the  Black 
Princess  and  the  Fcamot,  were  fitted  out  in  the  port  of 
Dunkirk  in  the  spring  of  1778  by  the  agents  of  the  com- 
missioners at  Paris.  They  were  commanded  generally  by 
Irishmen,  and  their  crews  were  composed  of  English,  Irish 
and  Scotch,  who  were  to  be  found  in  numbers  floating  around 
Dunkirk,  and  also  with  such  American  seamen  as  might  be 
found.  They  were  most  successful,  and  probably  paid  for 
themselves  many  times  over.  The  Black  Prince  and  Princess 
are  said  to  have  taken  eighty  prizes  in  the  course  of  a  single 
year.  The  original  Black  Prince  was  wrecked  and  lost,  but 
her  owners  built  a  new  vessel  which  bore  the  old  name. 

But  the  greatest  exploits  of  the  American  navy  abroad 
were  performed  by  John  Paul  Jones.  Jones,  as  has  been 
said,  had  sailed  from  Philadelphia  in  the  Ranger.  She  was  a 
ship  of  eighteen  guns.  On  this  vessel  he  displayed  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  for  the  first  time  that  that  flag  had  been  used  on 
shipboard.  He  had  a  short  passage,  in  the  course  of  which 
he  captured  two  prizes,  and,  at  once  opening  communications 
with  Franklin,  proposed  various  schemes  for  annoying  the 
English  shipping  and  ravaging  the  English  coast.  In  the 
spring  he  sailed  in  the  Ranger  to  cruise  on  the  Scotch 
coast.  He  was  foiled  in  his  attempt  to  burn  Lynn  Haven, 
but  on  his  return  he  met  and  captured  the  Drake,  an  English 
ship-of-war  of  twenty  guns,  with  which  he  returned  to  Brest. 

He  very  much  desired  to  command  the  Indian,  a  frigate  at 
that  time  on  the  stocks  in  Amsterdam.  But  this  vessel,  though 
begun  for  the  United  States,  had  been  turned  over  to  the 
French.  Jones  still  hoped  that  it  might  be  commissioned 
in    the    American   service,   and    that   he    might    receive    the 


I90  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

command.  He  continued  in  this  hope  through  the  summer 
of  1778.  The  Ranger  was  sent  home  under  Lieutenant  Simp- 
son. Jones's  trials  were  numerous.  In  February,  1779, 
however,  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  ship,  the  Due  de  Duras, 
which  he  rechristened  Le  Bon  Homme  Richard,  in  memory  of 
''Poor  Richard."  He  thought  he  owed  the  command  to  the 
saying,  "If  you  would  have  your  business  done,  go  yourself. 
If  not,  send."  The  vessel  belonged  to  the  King  of  France, 
but  the  crew  was  made  up  of  Englishmen.  An  expedition 
was  planned  for  descent  on  the  English  coast,  and  four  other 
vessels  were  placed  under  him  :  the  American  frigate,  the 
Alliance,  and  the  French  vessels,  the  Pallas,  the  Vengeance, 
and  the  Cerf.  It  was  proposed  that  Lafayette  should  accom- 
pany the  expedition  with  a  land  force,  but  this  part  of  the 
plan  was  given  up.  The  expedition  set  sail  the  14th  of  Au- 
gust. They  cruised  for  some  time  with  indifferent  fortune 
till  the  23d  of  September,  when  they  came  across  the  Baltic 
fleet  off  Scarborough,  under  convoy  of  the  Serapis,  of  forty- 
four  guns,  and  the  Countess  of  Scarborough,  of  twenty-two. 
Jones  at  once  engaged  the  Serapis,  signalling  to  the  Alliance 
to  come  to  his  assistance.  The  Pallas  engaged  the  Countess 
of  Scarborough.  The  other  vessels  of  the  squadron  were  not 
in  sight.  The  fight  between  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  the 
Serapis  was  hardly  contested.  The  Serapis  finally  surrendered, 
but  the  Bon  Ho?nme  Richard  was  so  battered  that  she  sunk 
two  days  afterward.  The  Alliance,  under  Captain  Laudais, 
behaved  in  a  most  singular  manner  during  the  engagement. 
Laudais  was  accused  of  firing  into  the  Bon  Ho?nme  Richard 
instead  of  the  Serapis.  He  proved  to  be  insane,  and  made 
much  trouble  for  Franklin  at  Paris. 

The  news  of  the  victory  over  the  Serapis  was  received  with 
great  delight  in  America  and  in  France.  Jones,  who  came 
shortly  to  Paris,  was  made  a  lion,  and  received  great  attention 
from  the  court  and  the  people. 


FRANKLIN   IN   FRANCE.  191 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  French  Alliance. 

Franklin  Arrives  in  France — Silas  Deane's  Early  Negotiations — The  Treaty 
of  Alliance — D'Estaing's  Fleet — Large  Combinations — Army  Under 
Rochambeau — It  Arrives  at  Rhode  Island — The  Campaign  in  Carolina 
— Lord  Cornwallis — Gates's  Defeat  at  Camden — His  Flight — Events 
at  the  North — Arnold's  Treason — Campaign  of  1781 — Cornwallis  Ad- 
vances to  Virginia — Death  of  Phillips — Lafayette  in  Command — Clin- 
ton Recalls  Cornwallis — The  Combination  Against  Him — De  Grasse's 
Fleet — Washington  Deceives  Clinton — He  Moves  from  New  York — A 
Day  at  Mount  Vernon — Siege  of  Yorktown — Cornwallis  Besieged — He 
Surrenders — Greene's  Campaign  of  1781 — The  News  of  Yorktown  Re- 
ceived in  Europe — Lord  North — "All  Is  Over." 

THE  American  cause  had  been  popular  in  France  ever 
since  the  war  began.  The  national  hatred  of  England 
contributed  to  a  liking  for  her  enemy,  and  the  very  severe  terms, 
which  England  had  exacted  in  the  peace  of  1763,  still  rankled 
in  the  minds  of  French  statesmen  and  soldiers.  The  new  phi- 
losophy of  human  nature  which  was  coming  into  fashion  had 
its  part  in  bringing  about  a  national  enthusiasm  for  the  insur- 
gents. When,  at  the  end  of  1776,  Franklin  arrived  in  France, 
he  was  welcomed  with  enthusiasm.  His  portrait  was  seen 
every-where.  Poor  Richard's  Maxims  were  translated  into 
French,  and  Franklin's  society  was  widely  sought.  He  availed 
himself  of  his  popularity  to  obtain  such  private  and  public 
help  for  his  countrymen  as  was  possible. 

Silas  Deane,  who  preceded  him,  had  set  on  foot  a  secret 
negotiation  which  resulted  in  a  gift  of  two  million  livres — about 
four  hundred  thousand  dollars — privately  paid  from  the  royal 
treasury  to  the  treasury  of  Congress.  A  second  arrangement 
was  made,  by  which  the  farmers  general  of  the  kingdom,  who 
had  the  monopoly  of  the  tobacco  trade,  were  to  receive  from 


1/ 


9 


I Q2  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Congress  a  quantity  of  tobacco  and  to  pay  for  it  in  military 
stores.  But  through  the  year  1777  all  such  negotiations  and 
promises  were  made  with  the  greatest  secrecy,  as  France  was, 
in  public,  maintaining  her  neutrality.  She  even  affected  to 
exclude  the  American  cruisers  from  her  ports,  excepting  as 
she  had  to  give  them  her  hospitality  when  they  were  in  abso- 
lute need  of  shelter  for  repairs. 

As  has  been  already  said,  however,  the  news  of  the  capitu- 
lation of  Burgoyne  turned  the  scale.  Franklin  and  his  asso- 
ciates were  at  once  told  that  the  government  was  ready  to  recog- 
nize American  independence,  to  receive  them  as  envoys,  and 
to  negotiate  a  treaty.  Spain,  which  was  closely  allied  with 
France,  made  similar  intimations.  The  first  result  of  the 
treaty  was  the  welcome  to  French  ports  of  American  prizes;  the 
second  was  the  equipment  of  the  fleet  under  D'Estaing,  of 
which  the  history  of  one  year's  cruise  has  been  told. 

As  the  year  1779  came  to  a  close  the  American  envoys 
begged  for  more  extensive  assistance,  and  ventured  to  show 
how  it  might  end  the  war. 

They  had  the  invaluable  help  of  Lafayette,  who  was 
popular  at  court,  very  popular  in  America,  and  who  had  crossed 
to  France  to  do  what  he  could  in  this  cause.  His  enthusiasm 
and  Franklin's  steady  wisdom  overcame  all  delays,  and  the 
Count  De  Rochambeau,  an  officer  of  high  rank,  was  ordered  to 
America  in  command  of  nearly  six  thousand  picked  men. 
They  were  conveyed  in  a  fleet  under  Admiral  Ternay,  and  a 
second  fleet  was  to  follow  them. 

This  superb  expedition  sailed  in  April.  The  seamanship 
of  those  days  was  not  as  prompt  as  that  of  to-day,  and  it  was 
not  until  the  10th  of  July  that  the  fleet  arrived  off  the  bay 
of  Rhode  Island,  the  men  already  sick  with  scurvy  and 
the  fleet  in  poor  condition  for  battle.  Lafayette  had  preceded 
them.  He  had  agreed  that  if  Newport  were  free  from  an 
English  fleet  there  should  be  a  white  flag  displayed  on  each 
of  the  headlands  of  Narragansett  Bay.  As  the  fog  lifted  which 
for  a  time  shrouded  the  coast  the  French  Admiral  saw,  to  his 
delight,  the  promised  signals,  and  at  once  entered  the  harbor 


AMERICAN   REVERSES.  193 

of  Newport.  He  landed  his  men,  who  were  welcomed  by  the 
Americans.  He  established  barracks  for  them  at  Newport 
and  Providence,  and  opened  his  communication  with  General 
Washington. 

Washington  had  refrained  from  any  active  operations  until 
his  allies  should  arrive.  Clinton  was  glad  enough  to  be  un- 
molested. Indeed,  there  had  already  begun  a  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  English  plan  of  campaign,  which  the  next 
year  resulted  in  ruin.  Of  all  the  English  officers  who  held 
high  command  in  America,  Lord  Cornwallis,  afterward  gover- 
nor of  India,  showed  most  spirit  and  military  genius.  He 
had  had  the  advantage  of  training  in  the  military  schools  of 
the  continent  of  Europe.  He  distinguished  himself  at  Brook- 
lyn and  at  the  Brandywine,  and,  when  he  afterward  returned 
to  England  to  propose  his  plans,  he  was  listened  to,  much  as 
Burgoyne  had  been  when  he  came  on  a  not  dissimilar  errand. 

Cornwallis  was  a  favorite  with  Lord  George  Germaine,  who 
was  master  of  colonial  affairs,  and  thus  played  well  the  part  of 
evil  genius  of  England.  Cornwallis  succeeded  in  obtaining 
what  was  virtually  an  independent  command,  as  he  construed 
his  instructions.  He  was  to  push  the  English  successes  at 
the  south.  True,  he  was  nominally  subordinate  to  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  at  New  York,  but  he  was  permitted  to  communicate 
directly  with  London,  and  in  his  use  of  this  permission  he 
eventually  entangled  Clinton  and  compelled  him  to  play  a 
part  second  to  his  own. 

The  fall  of  Charleston,  on  the  12th  of  April,  was  the  first 
signal  of  the  success  of  the  new  plans  of  the  English.  The 
news  arrived  in  France  soon  after  Rochambeau  sailed.  "  It 
is  impossible  to  do  anything,"  wrote  Marie  Antoinette  to  her 
mother,  "when  the  American  troops  are  such  cowards."  Lin- 
coln, who  commanded  at  Charleston,  was  obliged  to  surren- 
der, and  his  garrison  became  prisoners  of  war. 

Gates  was  appointed  to  succeed  him,  and  hurried  to  take 
the  independent  command  for  which  he  had  hungered  since 
his  great  success  at  Saratoga  and  after  the  failure  of  the  Con- 
way cabal.    Cornwallis  had  a  well-equipped  army  of  five  thou- 


194 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


sand  men.  Of  the  Continental  army,  Lincoln  had  surrendered 
almost  all  the  southern  contingent  in  the  fall  of  Charleston. 
Washington  detached  with  Gates  more  than  two  thousand 
men  from  his  own  force.  A  regiment  of  artillery  was  added 
at  Petersburg.  Virginia  ordered  twenty-five  hundred  addi- 
tional soldiers,  and  the  small  force  of  three  hundred  men  at 
Williamsburg  joined  the  army  which  was  to  meet  Cornwallis. 
Gates,  eager  to  meet  his  enemy,  marched  them  in  midsummer 
toward  Camden,  in  South  Carolina,  where  Lord  Ravvdon  com- 
manded a  consider- 
able English  force. 
Cornwallis  heard  of 
his  approach, 
strengthened  and 
joined  Rawdon,  and 
awaited  the  Ameri- 
can army.  On  the 
14th  of  August  Gates 
approached  Camden. 
He  seems  to  have  sup- 
posed himself  at  the 
head  of  seven  thou- 
sand men.  On  that 
day  he  detached  four 
hundred  with  Sump- 
ter,  a  spirited  south- 
ern partisan,  who  had 
four  hundred  more 
men.  But,  in  fact,  Gates  had  but  three  thousand  and  fifty-two 
men  ready  for  duty. 

With  these  he  attacked  the  English  lines  by  anight  attack, 
which  did  not  succeed.  The  next  day  he  renewed  the  attack, 
beginning  with  a  body  of  raw  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 
militia,  who  broke  and  fled,  bearing  Gates  with  them.  From 
this  moment  he  held  no  command.  The  remainder  of  the 
army,  consisting  largely  of  the  Maryland  and  Delaware  Con- 
tinentals under  De  Kalb,  maintained   its  ground  for  a   long 


ARREST   OF  ANDRE.  I95 

time,  and  even  drove  back  Rawdon's  division.   But  in  Gates's 
flight  the  battle  was  really  lost. 

The  English  force  was  severely  reduced  by  the  loss  of  five 
hundred  of  their  men.  The  Continental  loss  was  quite  as 
heavy,  and  the  discouragement  of  defeat  and  flight  was  added. 
De  Kalb  lived  but  three  days.  Nearly  one-half  of  his  divis- 
ion were  killed  or  wounded.  Soon  after,  Sumpter,  who  had 
the  largest  force  of  Americans  left  in  Carolina,  was  surprised 
by  Tarleton,  who  took  two  or  three  hundred  of  his  party 
prisoners.  Thus  disastrous  was  the  summer  of  1780  to  the 
American  prospects  in  the  Carolinas. 

At  the  north  it  had  soon  been  determined  that,  while 
Washington  held  the  passes  of  the  Hudson  and  watched  the 
English  in  New  York,  the  combined  forces  should  not  make 
any  attempt  at  present.  Extreme  poverty  was  one  reason  for 
this  inaction.  The  second  French  fleet,  which,  with  Ternay's 
fleet,  would  outnumber  the  English,  was  expected.  Until 
its  arrival  no  combined  effort  was  thought  advisable.  The 
English  government,  however,  had  succeeded  in  blockading 
it  at  Toulon.  It  never  joined  Ternay,  and  as  a  result  of  this 
prompt  action  in  Europe  the  joint  American  campaign  was 
deferred  for  another  year. 

As  Washington  returned  to  his  army  from  an  interview 
with  Rochambeau  at  Hartford,  in  Connecticut,  his  unexpected 
arrival  at  West  Point  discovered  the  saddest  treason  of  the 
war — the  plot  by  which  General  Arnold,  who  commanded  at 
West  Point,  proposed  to  deliver  it  to  Clinton.  From  that 
time  the  name  of  Arnold  has  been  hated  by  his  countrymen. 
It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  American  child  has  received 
the  name  of  "Benedict" — which  was  his  name — since  this 
treason  was  discovered.  Washington's  party  arrived  at  Ar- 
nold's quarters  at  breakfast,  he  himself  having  been  delayed 
while  he  inspected  some  works.  As  they  breakfasted  Arnold 
received  a  note,  which  told  him  that  Andre,  the  adjutant- 
general  of  the  English  army,  with  whom  he  had  been  in  trea- 
sonable conversation  only  two  days  before,  had  been  arrested, 
and  was  then  in  the  hands  of  one  of  his  officers.     Arnold  had 


I96  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

not  a  moment  to  lose.  He  ordered  his  barge,  and  by  flutter- 
ing a  flag  of  truce  was  received  on  the  English  frigate  Vul- 
ture, which  lay  below  his  lines.  Washington  arrived  just  too 
late  to  intercept  his  flight. 
-~>  Andre  was  tried  by  court-martial  and  was  justly  sentenced 
to  be  hanged  as  a  spy.  His  talent  for  war  and  for  literature 
has  awakened  sympathy  for  him  wherever  his  story  has  been 
known.  But  civilized  war  is  impossible  if  such  offenses  as 
his  are  not  to  be  expiated ;  and  a  close  study  of  his  negotia- 
tions with  Arnold  and  his  correspondence  afterward  does  not 
leave  to  him  the  character  either  of  a  martyr  or  a  hero — or 
even  a  gentleman. 

"Whom  can  we  trust  now?"  said  Washington,  sadly;  for  he 
had,  it  might  be  said,  singled  out  Arnold  for  preferment,  by 
way  of  recompensing  him  for  affronts  he  had  received  from 
Congress.  He  sent  to  Newport  and  recalled  Heath,  who  had 
been  sent  there  to  confer  with  Rochambeau,  and  he  put  the 
fortress  in  Heath's  charge. 

Cornwallis,  meanwhile,  had  had  the  tact  and  skill  to  put  his 
army  into  light  marching  order.  He  had  caught  the  lesson  of 
the  long  distances  of  America,  as  the  American  commanders 
had  learned  it  generations  before.  Cornwallis,  with  the  En- 
glish officers,  and,  on  the  other  side,  the  French  officers  of 
Rochambeau 's  contingent,  introduced  into  European  warfare 
the  new  tactics  of  light  infantry.  And,  in  this  generation, 
these  words  are  almost  the  only  memorial  to  military  men  that 
there  ever  was  a  "  Heavy  Infantry"  in  the  military  establish- 
ments. Banastre  Tarleton,  a  spirited  cavalry  officer,  who  did 
not  escape  the  reputation  of  cruelty,  was  Cornwallis's  second. 
As  the  English  army  gained  ground  he  stripped  the  stables 
of  the  southern  planters,  so  that  it  was  literally  true,  as  Corn- 
wallis said  in  one  of  his  letters,  that  he  went  about  stealing 
tobacco  with  an  army  on  race-horses. 

After  he  had  crushed  Gates  the  way  to  Virginia  seemed 
tempting,  and  was  open.  Fie  was  himself  convinced  that  the 
true  policy  for  the  English  was  to  abandon  New  York  and 
make  a  strong  position  in  Virginia.    Without  giving  Sir  Henry 


•j 


LAFAYETTE   IN   VIRGINIA.  1 97 

Clinton  any  fair  notion  of  his  plan,  and  acting  merely  under 
his  general  instructions  from  England,  he  determined  on 
what  he  called  "solid  operations  in  Virginia,"  taking  it  for 
granted  that  if  he  established  a  foot-hold  in  that  State  Clin- 
ton would  meet  him  there,  or  would  largely  re-enforce  him. 
Leaving  the  American  army  under  Greene  on  his  left,  he 
pushed  for  Norfolk  and  effected  a  junction,  as  he  had  pro- 
posed, with  the  corps  under  Phillips  and  Arnold,  which  had 
just  landed  there  for  a  raid.  Phillips  died  just  at  this  time, 
on  the  13th  of  May,  at  Petersburg.  As  he  lay  dying  a  shot 
from  one  of  Lafayette's  cannon  passed  through  the  house. 
"Can  I  not  die  in  peace  ?  "  he  said.  It  was  a  matter  of  curious 
interest  to  Lafayette  that  his  father  had  died  from  a  shot 
directed  by  a  battery  under  the  command  of  Phillips,  at  the 
battle  of  Minden. 

Cornwallis  assumed  the  command  of  the  united  English 
force,  which  was  now  much  larger  than  the  Americans  could 
collect.  Arnold  did  not  remain  with  him  personally,  but 
retired  to  New  York.  Cornwallis  crossed  the  James  River, 
near  the  junction  with  the  Appomatox,  and  sought  to  engage 
Lafayette.  Lafayette  was  on  his  first  considerable  independent 
command.  He  had  replaced  Steuben,  whose  more  slow  or 
solid  ways  had  dissatisfied  the  Virginians.  But  Lafayette  al- 
ways made  himself  popular,  and  he  had  brought  with  him  a 
body  of  light  troops  who  were  the  flower  of  the  army.  He 
showed  great  intelligence  and  spirit.  He  gave  Cornwallis  no 
opportunity  to  engage  him,  but  did  what  he  could,  with  so 
small  a  force,  to  encourage  the  country  and  to  assist  the 
planters  in  removing  horses  and  other  property  before  the 
spoilers  came.  It  was  of  this  summer  campaign  that  Corn- 
wallis wrote  home  that  he  marched  up  and  down  stealing 
tobacco. 

Meanwhile  he  was  eagerly  awaiting  Clinton's  arrival,  with 
the  prospect  it  gave  for  what  he  called  "  solid  operations  "  in 
Virginia.  He  seems  to  have  even  hoped  that  Clinton  would 
march  in  force  from  New  York  across  the  country,  though  such 
a  march  must  have  been  made  either  in  face  of  Washington 


- / 

198  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

and  Rochambeau,  or  pursued  by  them.  Sir  Henry  Clinton 
was,  naturally  enough,  offended  by  such  high-handed  insub- 
ordination. He  would  lend  himself  to  no  such  scheme.  And 
at  Hanover  Court  House,  about  thirty  miles  north  of  James 
River,  Cornwallis  received  Clinton's  positive  orders  not  to 
risk  a  march  across  Pennsylvania,  nor  to  expect  him  to  make 
such  a  march,  but  to  establish  a  post  on  the  lower  Chesa- 
peake and  await  orders.  Offended  and  hurt,  Cornwallis 
obeyed  these  orders  and  retired  before  Lafayette  to  York 
River. 

Lafayette's  force  was  inferior,  but  he  pushed  Cornwallis, 
where  he  could,  with  spirit  and  courage.  He  wrote  to  Wash- 
ington that  if  he  could  join  him  with  a  re-enforcement,  and  if 
a  French  fleet  could  blockade  the  Chesapeake,  every  thing 
might  be  hoped.  Washington  needed  no  such  quickening. 
He  had  written  the  most  urgent  personal  letter  to  whoever 
might  be  in  command  of  that  fleet  in  the  West  Indies.  For- 
2  tunately  the  letter  reached  De  Grasse  in  time,  and  he  at  once 
obeyed  the  summons.  The  great  game  of  war  has  seldom 
seen  the  union  of  the  important  pieces  take  place  with  more 
precision.  Cornwallis  reached  Yorktown  and  began  to  fortify 
himself  on  the  8th  of  August.  Lafayette  followed  him  closely. 
The  French  fleet  arrived  in  the  Chesapeake  and  hemmed  in 
Cornwallis  and  the  English  vessels  there.  Cornwallis  wrote 
to  Clinton  some  letters  which  were  intercepted,  and  others 
which  went  through.  In  all  of  them  he  fixed  a  period,  not 
far  distant,  as  the  latest  to  which  he  could  hold  the  post  if  he 
were  not  relieved.  Washington  saw,  to  his  joy,  that  the  great 
combination  was  now  possible  for  which  he  had  so  earnestly 
hoped  when  he  wrote  to  the  French  admiral. 

The  army  of  Rochambeau  had  recovered  from  the  voyage 
which  had  so  disabled  it,  and  had  been  moved  from  Narra- 
gansett  Bay  to  the  Hudson  River.  Strong  reconnoissances 
threatening  New  York,  so  strong  sometimes  as  to  bring  on 
skirmishes,  had  been  made,  which  had  kept  the  English  gar- 
rison and  that  of  outlying  posts  on  the  alert.  Really  intend- 
ing to  push  his   way  into  New  York  with  the  strong  com- 


CORNWALLIS  IN   YORKTOWN.  I99 

bined  force  under  his  command,  if  any  opportunity  offered, 
it  was  easy  for  Washington  to  give  Clinton  the  fear  that 
measures  were  in  progress  for  such  an  attack.  In  truth,  he 
was  threatening  the  city  all  through  the  summer.  When,  on 
the  19th  of  August,  he  received  news  that  Cornwallis  had 
taken  position  at  York  River,  he  was  able  to  deceive  Clinton 
for  many  days  as  to  his  purposes  in  that  direction. 

A  large  French  and  American  contingent  was  rapidly  moved 
southward  on  the  roads  back  from  observation,  while  close 
observation  was  maintained  on  the  city.  Washington  him- 
self and  his  army  had  crossed  the  Delaware  before  Clinton 
knew  that  he  had  at  all  re-enforced  Lafayette.  Washington, 
with  his  staff,  traveled  a  little  in  advance  of  the  French 
commander.  When  he  arrived  at  Chester  he  met  with  the 
great  news  that  the  French  fleet  under  the  Count  de  Grasse 
had  arrived  in  the  lower  Chesapeake.  He  returned  on 
his  road  that  he  might  tell  this  himself  to  Rochambeau. 
Rochambeau  saw  him  waving  his  hat  and  showing  the  great- 
est delight.  "  A  child  who  has  just  received  every  thing  he 
longs  for  would  not  have  felt  more  enthusiasm.  He  was 
content  for  the  moment  to  be  a  citizen,  happy  in  the  good 
fortune  of  his  country."  Such  are  the  words  of  a  French 
officer  who  witnessed  the  scene. 

Fifteen  hundred  men  were  carried  down  Chesapeake  Bay 
in  boats  to  the  mouth  of  the  James  River.  The  rest  went 
to  Annapolis  by  the  aid  of  the  French  frigates,  and  then 
marched  overland.  Washington  himself  on  this  journey 
made  his  first  visit  to  Mount  Vernon  since  the  war  began. 
It  was  more  than  six  years  since  he  had  seen  his  princely 
home.  He  was  able  to  entertain  the  French  general  and  his 
staff  with  the  hasty  hospitality  of  a  single  day.  He  and 
Rochambeau  had  ridden  sixty  miles  in  the  saddle  in  one  day. 
He  then  resumed  the  critical  march  with  his  friends,  and  by 
the  same  roads  on-  which  he  had  ridden  every  year  for  fifteen 
years,  when  he  served  in  the  Virginia  Assembly,  he  took  them 
to  Williamsburg  to  the  command  of  his  and  their  armies. 

Lafayette   had   already   welcomed   Saint-Simon,  who  was 


200  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

in  charge  of  the  first  French  contingent.  On  the  arrival  of 
a  force  utterly  superior  to  his  own  Cornwallis  risked  noth- 
ing more  in  the  field  but  withdrew  behind  the  fortifications 
which  he  had  built  to  defend  Yorktown.  The  American  and 
French  generals  immediately  examined  the  ground  and  laid 
out  the  works  by  which  it  might  be  regularly  approached. 
The  American  army,  thus  far  trained  to  what  have  been  called 
skirmishes  on  a  large  scale,  was  to  see  the  progress  of  a  reg- 
ular siege,  conducted  with  all  the  system  of  scientific  and 
technical  war. 

The  allied  army  surrounded  the  town  on  the  30th  of  Septem- 
ber. The  French  held  the  right  of  the  besiegers'  position,  the 
Americans  the  left.  Cornwallis  availed  himself  of  every  oppor- 
tunity of  annoying  the  men  at  work,  but  fire  was  not  opened 
on  him  till  the  9th  of  October.  For  four  days  the  fire  was 
incessant;  his  batteries  were,  one  by  one,  made  useless  and 
his  cannon  dismounted.  On  the  15th  he  wrote  to  Clinton 
that  he  could  not  recommend  any  great  risk  to  army  or  fleet 
in  coming  to  his  relief.  On  the  night  of  the  16th  he 
attempted  to  cross  the  York  River,  hoping  to  surprise  the 
French  force  at  Gloucester,  on  the  north  side,  and  escape 
into  the  upper  country  of  Virginia.  But  a  violent  storm 
deranged  the  crossing  and  made  it  impossible.  This  failure 
compelled  him  to  offer  surrender  on  the  17th.  The  terms  of 
capitulation  were  agreed  upon  on  the  19th,  and  the  whole 
army  surrendered  as  prisoners  of  war. 

Cornwallis  had  left  the  Carolinas  for  u  solid  operations  in 
Virginia  "  almost  as  if  indifferent  to  Greene,  who  was  opposed 
to  him.  Greene  wisely  left  him  to  his  fate  in  Virginia  while 
he  attempted  the  recovery  of  the  posts  held  by  the  English 
at  the  south.  In  this  endeavor  he  spent  the  spring  and 
summer  of  1781.  "We  fight,  get  beaten,  and  fight  again,"  he 
said.  His  defeats  differed  from  Gates's,  at  Camden,  in  this: 
that  he  did  not  himself  run  away  after  thetn.  When  Corn- 
wallis   moved    north,*   he    left   Greene  on  his  left.     Charles 

*  The  movement  has  been  compared  in  later  times  to  Sherman's  advance  into  Georgia 
in  1865,  leaving  Hood  behind  him  in  Tennessee. 


SURRENDER   OF   CORNWALLIS.  201 

James  Fox  said  rightly,  in  Parliament,  that  if  the  English 
army  had  been  vanquished  it  would  have  retired  to  the  sea 
exactly  as  it  did  after  a  victory.  The  English  still  held  gar- 
risons at  Augusta,  in  Georgia;  at  Camden,  in  South  Carolina; 
and  at  the  post  called  Ninety-six,  about  forty  miles  north 
of  Augusta,  on  the  Saluda  River.  When  Greene  was 
encamped  at  Hobkirk's  Hill,  not  far  from  the  old  battle 
ground  of  Camden,  he  was  attacked  by  Lord  Rawdon. 
Each  party  lost  about  three  hundred  men,  and  Greene  was 
forced  to  retreat  General  Marion,  however,  with  a  re-en- 
forcement from  Greene's  army,  took  the  English  fort  on  the 
San  tee,  below  Camden,  and  that  post  was,  in  consequence, 
abandoned  by  Rawdon.  Marion  followed  up  his  success 
and  attacked  and  took  Fort  Granby  with  three  hundred  and 
fifty  men.  Lord  Rawdon  was  thus  compelled  to  withdraw  to 
Charleston,  leaving  garrisons  at  Ninety-six  and  at  Augusta. 
Greene  besieged  Ninety-six;  but  Rawdon,  re-enforced, 
marched  to  its  relief,  and  Greene,  after  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  storm  the  place,  was  obliged  to  withdraw.  Raw- 
don could  not,  however,  hold  a  post  so  far  from  his  base. 
He  withdrew  the  garrison  and  their  loyalist  friends.  He 
himself  soon  after  sailed  for  England.  He  was  captured  by 
a  French  frigate,  and  thus  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
surrender  at  Yorktown  of  his  old  chief,  Cornwallis. 

Greene,  after  recruiting  his  army,  attacked  the  English 
again  at  Eutaw,  on  the  8th  of  September,  and  this  time  suc- 
cessfully. They  broke  and  fled  before  him.  But  in  their 
retreat  a  party  of  them  held  as  a  fortress  a  large  brick  house, 
where  they  covered  the  flight  of  their  friends.  In  the  effort  to 
drive  them  from  this  fastness,  Greene  lost  a  large  number 
of  men,  among  them  Colonel  Washington,  the  spirited  cav- 
alry officer  who  had  on  the  American  side  rivaled  the  feats 
of  the  English  Tarleton.  The  American  loss  in  this  hard- 
fought  battle  was  five  hundred  and  fifty-four.  The  English 
lost  more  than  a  thousand  men.  The  result  of  the  battle  was 
that  the  remainder  of  the  English  army  was  withdrawn  into 

Charleston.     Whether    beaten    or    defeated    Greene   always 
9* 


202  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

attained  his  object.  And  when  Cornwallis  surrendered  at 
Yorktown,  Charleston  was  the  only  post  in  South  Carolina 
held  by  his  enemy. 

Cornwallis  had  tried  to  notify  Clinton  that  his  case  was  hope- 
^  less,  but  Clinton  did  not  fail  his  insubordinate  general  when 
y  the  issue  came.  He  sent  him  message  after  message  to  as- 
sure him  of  his  support.  Hardest  task  of  all,  he  drove  up 
the  English  admirals  to  all  possible  speed  in  preparing  a 
naval  force  which  might  possibly  open  the  way  into  the 
Chesapeake.  He  embarked  five  thousand  men,  going  with 
them  himself.  On  board  the  fleet,  as  an  officer  of  the 
navy,  they  had  William,  afterward  King  of  England,  the 
third  son  of  George  III.  In  this  "  untoward  "  begin- 
ning he  was  to  take  his  first  lesson  in  the  trade  of  "  king- 
craft." When,  at  last,  the  admiral  would  put  to  sea,  they 
sailed;  but  they  were  too  late.  Off  Cape  Charles  they  met 
the  news  of  the  surrender,  and  Clinton  returned  to  New 
York. 

The  French  admiral  at  once  fitted  out  a  fast  frigate  to 
take  the  joyful  news  to  France.  She  had  a  quick  run,  and 
on  the  20th  of  November  it  was  announced  in  Paris,  and 
from  Paris  in  every  part  of  Europe.  It  came  from  Paris  to 
London  on  the  24th.  "  How  did  Lord  North  take  it  ?  " 
This  was  the  question  which  some  one  put  to  Lord  George 
Germaine.  "As  he  would  have  taken  a  cannon  ball  in  his 
heart,"  said  Lord  George.  "  He  threw  up  his  hands  and 
cried  '  All  is  over.'  " 

All  was  over;  though  at  the  time  all  men  did  not  under- 
stand this.  Conway  introduced  in  Parliament  a  resolution, 
which  passed  by  a  majority  of  nineteen,  that  they  who 
advised  a  continuation  of  war  with  America  were  enemies  of 
their  country.  Lord  North  and  his  cabinet  resigned.  Lord 
George  Germaine  had  been  sacrificed  before — the  evil  genius 
of  George  III  and  of  England.  Lord  Shelburne  came  into 
power  at  the  head  of  the  new  ministry.  He  was  an  old 
friend  of  Franklin's,  and  through  their  mutual  friends  they 
had   kept  up  some  communication    after  Franklin   went   to 


ARNOLD   AT  NEW   LONDON.  203 

France.  With  Franklin  he  entered  into  personal  correspond- 
ence at  once,  and  the  negotiation  of  a  treaty  began  on  the 
basis  of  the  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States. 

As  a  miserable  offset  to  the  great  success  by  which  the 
war  was  really  ended,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  able  to  send 
home  the  account  of  a  marauding  expedition  on  the  coast  of 
Connecticut.  If  any  thing  could  add  to  Arnold's  disgrace 
it  was  his  willingness  to  take  command  of  an  enterprise  which 
aimed  at  his  old  home  in  New  London.  He  even  made  use 
of  his  local  knowledge  of  the  place  to  direct  the  troops 
which  were  sent  to  destroy  it.  It  is  said  that  Cornwallis 
refused  to  have  him  under  his  command  in  Virginia,  and 
that  he  returned  from  the  Virginia  expedition  of  the  spring 
because  Cornwallis  compelled  him  to  do  so.  This  was  in 
May.  At  the  beginning  of  September  he  was  put  in  com- 
mand of  seventeen  hundred  men,  for  an  expedition  against 
Connecticut.  It  has  been  suggested,  and  is  perhaps  prob- 
able, that  Clinton  thought  that  such  an  expedition  might  recall 
Washington  from  his  march,  which  was  already  begun. 
Arnold  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames  River,  where  it 
flows  into  Long  Island  Sound,  on  the  6th  of  September.  He 
divided  his  force  into  two  columns,  and  one  column  marched 
up  each  side  of  the  river.  Arnold  commanded  that  on  the 
west  side.  No  efficient  resistance  was  made  to  him  and  he 
took  and  burned  the  town  of  New  London.  On  the  eastern 
side  the  militia  of  the  immediate  neighborhood  had  gath- 
ered, but  had  not  nearly  force  enough  even  to  man  the 
parapets  of  Fort  Griswold,  an  earthwork  which  had  been 
erected  for  defense.  Mad  with  liquor,  the  assailants,  num- 
bering nearly  seven  hundred  men,  poured  over  the  earth- 
works, and,  as  resistance  was  useless,  Ledyard,  the  American 
commander,  ordered  his  men  to  throw  down  their  aims.  He 
surrendered  to  Major  Bromneld,  the  English  commanding 
officer,  after  Eyre,  the  colonel,  had  been  wounded.  The 
officer  at  once  stabbed  him  with  his  own  sword,  and  this 
seems  to  have  been  the  signal  for  a  massacre  of  the  whole  of 


204  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

the  garrison.  Eighty-seven  were  killed  and  thirty  were 
wounded.  Of  these  only  three  had  been  killed  before  Led- 
yard  gave  the  order  to  surrender. 

Arnold  said  that  the  burning  of  the  town  was  an  accident. 
As  has  been  remarked,  however,  it  was  a  consistent  accident; 
for  Groton,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  was  burned  also. 
After  this  success  he  withdrew  with  his  force  to  New 
York. 


FINANCIAL   PROBLEMS.  205 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

End  of  the  War. 

Undecided  Position  of  the  Country — Weakness  of  the  Confederation — Con- 
dition and  Defects  of  Congress — Articles  of  Confederation — The 
Finances  of  the  Confederacy — Paper  Money — The  Word  "Con- 
tinental " — First  and  Second  Issues  of  Bills — Virtually  a  Tax  on  the 
User — Issues  in  1779 — The  Currency  Loses  All  Value — Injustice  to 
the  Soldiers — Their  Dissatisfaction — The  Newburg  Letters — Washing- 
ton's Reply  to  Them— End  of  the  Crisis— The  English  Evacuate  New 
York — Washington  Resigns  his  Commission. 

THE  United  States,  after  their  victory,  were  in  a  disagree- 
able position.  They  were  not  at  peace.  They  were 
not  at  war.  Clinton  would  not  send  word  to  Washington 
that  he  might  send  his  army  home.  Washington  did  not  dare 
say  to  the  King  of  France  that  he  might  call  his  soldiers 
home.  On  the  other  hand,  the  different  States  were  very 
unwilling  to  send  their  regiments  to  a  distance  to  a  war  which 
was  never  to  be  fought.  The  people  were  slow  about  paying 
taxes,  as  if  the  war  was  ended.  Yet  commerce  was  interrupted. 
Prizes  were  taken  at  sea.  The  fisheries  were  no  more  open 
to  American  crews  than  they  had  been  in  the  severest  mo- 
ments of  the  war. 

It  was  thus  that  some  of  the  severest  strains  of  the  whole 
contest  came  in  those  years  of  half  peace.  The  weakness  of 
the  Confederation  became  more  apparent,  as  it  was  no  longer 
concealed  behind  the  smoke  and  the  success  of  battle.  In 
truth,  its  power  had  never  been  any  thing  but  the  reflex  of  an 
excited  and  unanimous  public  opinion.  When  there  was  no 
active  enemy's  army  as  the  object  for  opposition  the  excite- 
ment which  had  quickened  unanimity  died.  Each  State  fell 
back  to  the  not  easy  problem  of  improving  its  now  shattered 
fortunes. 


206  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  Congress  itself  was  surprised,  in  the  beginning,  when 
it  became  an  executive  body.  It  had  not  been  chosen  for 
any  such  purpose.  Never  was  success  more  marvelous  than 
it  had  gained — considering  its  utter  inability,  in  theory,  for 
the  task  it  had  in  hand. 

Forty  or  fifty  gentlemen,  mostly  strangers  to  each  other, 
and  with  no  common  system  of  law  or  administration  behind 
them,  had  been  chosen  to  unite  in  fit  remonstrances  to  a  king  to 
whom  they  all  owed  allegiance.  These  gentlemen  found  them- 
selves of  a  sudden  making  war  against  him,  declaring  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  nation,  and,  though  with  no  authority  directly 
given  by  that  nation,  raising  an  army  and  a  navy,  commission- 
ing officers,  sending  out  envoys  and  making  alliances  with  other 
nations.  Never  was  a  more  complete  illustration  of  the  way 
in  which  a  government  is  made  because  there  must  be  a  gov- 
ernment. After  two  or  three  years,  because  the  Congress 
saw  that  on  paper  it  had  no  power,  by  gradual  approach  and 
after  difficult  and  critical  negotiation  the  ''Articles  of  Con- 
federation," as  they  are  called,  were  agreed  upon. 

It  may  be  fairly  said  that  they  did  more  harm  than  good. 
They  were  framed  on  the  theory  which  should  leave  every 
State  virtually  independent.  While  Congress  could  vote  that 
each  State  should  supply  this  and  that  necessary  contingent 
for  the  national  service,  Congress  had  no  power  to  carry  out 
its  vote  or  to  enforce  any  demand.  The  original  Congress 
had  borrowed  money,  first  in  small  sums,  and  had  pledged 
the  honor  of  the  nation  in  payment.  Really,  under  the  Arti- 
cles of  the  Confederation  the  Congress  could  pledge  noth- 
ing more.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  it  could  not  command 
the  money  to  buy  the  quills  which  made  the  pens  with  which 
its  laws  were  written. 

On  March  i,  1781,  after  long  delays,  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation nominally  went  into  effect.  The  public  creditors, 
especially  the  soldiers  of  the  army,  imagined,  perhaps,  that 
they  now  had  a  real  authority  to  deal  with  instead  of  the 
shadow  of  a  name ;  but  in  fact  Congress  had  almost  no 
treasury  and  could  command  no  money. 


CONTINENTAL  CURRENCY.  207 

Its  financial  resources  up  to  this  time  had  been  of  two 
forms,  both  resting  on  the  fascinating  but  unsubstantial  basis 
of  debt.  Beginning  with  an  innocent  little  loan  of  $25,000, 
Congress  had  borrowed  more  and  more  wherever  it  could  find 
a  lender.  Franklin,  John  Adams  and  the  commissioners  in 
Europe  had  steadily  kept  before  the  knowledge  of  Europe 
an  understanding  of  the  great  wealth  of  America,  especially 
of  the  value  of  its  public  lands.  From  the  beginning  the 
interest  on  the  foreign  loans  was  generally  well  paid.  As 
soon  as  Robert  Morris  directed  the  treasury  its  accounts  were 
carefully  kept. 

At  home,  where  large  sums  of  money  were  not  ready  for 
borrowing,  Congress  also  borrowed,  unintentionally,  by  the 
system  of  paper  money.  So  soon  as  the  movements  of  armies 
brought  the  colonies  into  closer  relations  with  each  other, 
while  the  downfall  of  legitimate  commerce  withdrew  gold  and 
silver  from  its  operations,  there  was  real  need  of  a  convenient 
circulating  medium.  Congress  issued  its  own  currency,  which 
took  the  name,  which  it  has  since  retained,  of  the  "  Continental 
Currency."  It  is  a  pity  that  the  most  frequent  use  at  the 
present  time  of  the  word  "Continental  "  should  be  its  famil- 
iar use  as  the  name  of  a  piece  of  worthless  paper  money. 
In  the  beginning  it  was  not  so.  "  Continental  "  then  stood 
for  all  things  national — the  army,  the  foreign  treaties,  the  uni- 
form of  the  troops — and,  therefore,  it  was  the  name  of  the 
national  currency. 

After  more  than  a  century  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
with  a  vast  territorial  extension,  supporting  a  population  not 
more  dense  than  that  of  the  sea-board  in  the  Revolution,  with 
enormous  demands  for  trade  not  then  known,  keeps  in  cir- 
culation for  its  convenience  about  eight  hundred  millions  of 
paper  money;  nearly  fifteen  dollars  for  each  individual.  The 
people  can  have  gold  or  silver  for  this  money,  but  it  prefers 
to  use  this  amount  of  paper.  It  is  not,  then,  surprising  that 
in  1775,  when  the  first  issue  of  Continental  paper  began,  the 
country  with  a  population  of  three  millions  easily  floated  a 
million  dollars,  and  afterward  a  second  million,  without  any  per- 


208  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

ceptible  depreciation.  In  the  midst  of  other  changes,  with 
the  help  of  strong  patriotic  excitement,  the  sum  of  $2,000,000 
was  so  convenient  an  addition  to  the  commercial  resources 
of  a  nation  which  had  every  thing  to  do  that  the  paper  main- 
tained a  value  even  with  that  of  silver. 

Here  is  a  temptation  such  as  statesmen  have  not  always 
met  well,  and  which  monarchs  less  pressed  than  the  "  Con- 
tinental Congress "  have  not  resisted.  When,  in  another 
year,  Congress  needed  more  money,  it  was  convenient  to  rely 
on  the  printing-press,  "  its  unsubsidized  ally,"  to  furnish  it. 
New  issues  were  ordered.  Of  course,  as  more  money  was 
made  than  commerce  really  needed,  the  price  of  money  fell. 
What  was  worse,  the  English  government  issued  counterfeits 
of  it,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  recall  the  issue  and  sub- 
stitute notes  of  another  pattern.  The  whole  issue,  old  and 
new,  was  worth  no  more  than  the  old  issue  was  worth  be- 
fore the  new  was  added. 

But  what  was  important  to  Congress  was  that  they  and 
their  treasurer  and  their  paymasters  held  the  new  issue  till 
they  had  paid  it  out.  The  losers  were  not  the  people  who 
made  the  money,  but  the  people  who  had  taken  it.  A  man 
found  on  the  1st  of  June  that  the  dollar  which  had  been  worth 
six  shillings  on  the  1st  of  May,  was  only  worth  five  shillings. 
He  was  the  loser,  but  Congress  lost  nothing. 

Virtually  this  man,  without  meaning  it,  or  even  knowing  it, 
paid  a  tax  of  one  shilling  to  Congress  as  that  month  of  May 
passed.     Congress  was  richer  and  he  was  poorer  by  that  sum. 

Repeating  this  process,  Congress  continued  issuing  paper 
money,  always  promising  to  pay  "  hard  dollars,"  until  before 
the  end  of  1779  it  had  issued  two  hundred  millions  in  paper. 
At  this  time  one  hundred  paper  dollars  were  worth  only  two 
and  a  half  dollars  in  silver.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that 
the  circulation  which  the  country  needed  was  about  five 
million  dollars,  or  one  and  a  half  dollars  for  each  inhabitant. 
The  process  could  be  carried  no  farther.  It  was  fatal  to  hon- 
est trade.  Men  paid  debts  by  giving  half  or  one  quarter  of 
what  they  had  borrowed.     It  was   demoralizing  ;  for   the  na- 


I  /    Z*Zl*~  ruf^u  *****  c&v^ 


DEPRECIATED    CURRENCY.  209 

tion  declared,  on  every  bill,  that  it  would  do  what  it  was 
wholly  impossible  for  it  to  do.  Necessity,  after  the  very  first, 
was  the  only  excuse;  but  as  Congress  had  no  power  to  tax 
men  it  had  the  tyrant's  plea  of  necessity  when,  in  this  in- 
direct way,  it  raised  for  the  national  defense  a  very  consider- 
able sum  by  what  was  virtually  a  tax,  though  hardly  supposed 
to  be  so. 

The  goose  was  at  last  killed  which  laid  the  golden  egg. 
The  last  issues  of  the  Continental  currency  now  exist  in  the 
large  sheets  in  which  they  were  printed.  It  was  not  even 
worth  the  while  of  the  man  who  received  the  sheet  from  the 
treasury  to  cut  it  into  separate  bills.  It  was  one  large  bill  to 
circulate  for  what  it  would  bring.  Before  the  year  1782  a 
specie  currency  was  largely  in  use,  with  some  paper  circulated 
by  the  States  and  of  use  in  the  payment  of  State  taxes.  The 
payment  of  gold  by  the  French  commissaries  for  the  sup- 
plies they  required  gave  some  assistance  in  furnishing  a  cur- 
rency, and  every  suucessful  adventure  by  a  privateer,  or 
every  shipment  of  tobacco  to  Europe  which  slipped  through 
the  enemy's  cruisers,  relieved,  by  so  much,  the  drain  on  the 
country  for  specie,  which  began,  of  course,  when  the  natural 
currents  of  trade  were  disturbed  by  the  war. 

In  no  quarter  was  the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  whether 
of  the  nation  or  of  a  State,  more  disastrous  than  with  the 
soldiers  of  the  army.  These  men  were  now  enlisted  for  three 
years,  or  to  the  end  of  the  war.  They  were  not  largely  paid, 
though  some  of  them  had  received  considerable  bounties  at 
the  beginning.  To  be  paid  year  by  year  in  a  currency  which, 
as  all  men  knew,  was  losing  in  value  every  day,  was  an  insult. 
But  in  most  instances  the  treasurers  of  the  States,  or  the 
treasury  of  Congress,  had  nothing  better  than  such  paper  to 
offer. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  summer  of  1783  it  was  certain 
that  no  military  measures  of  an  aggressive  character  would 
be  attempted.  The  Continental  army  was  reduced  to  the 
lowest  scale,  and  for  that  year  the  country  had  in  service  only 
13,456  men.     The  largest  Continental  force  ever  upon  the  rolls 


2IO  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

was  46,891,  in  1776.  In  that  year  42,000  militia  were  called 
out  also.  The  army  held,  in  1783,  the  garrisons  which  had 
been  established.  Its  principal  force  was  still  above  New 
York.  If  it  were  ever  to  make  a  claim  for  reasonable  justice 
upon  the  Congress  whom  it  had  so  faithfully  served  now  was 
the  time.  It  is  clear  enough  that,  in  the  enforced  leisure  of 
such  a  summer,  there  would  be  constant  difficulties  among  the 
officers  and  men  as  to  what  Congress  had  done,  might  do, 
ought  to  do,  and  might  be  made  to  do. 

Such  discussions  reached  a  crisis  and  found  expression 
which  attracted  public  notice  in  some  letters  circulated 
among  the  officers,  which  were  at  the  time  anonymous.  But 
little  secrecy,  however,  was  kept  regarding  them,  and  per- 
haps little  was  intended.  General  Armstrong,  an  aid  of  Gen- 
eral Gates,  afterward  readily  acknowledged  the  authorship  of 
the  most  important.  They  were  well  written,  and  expressed 
with  little  or  no  exaggeration  the  history  of  the  treatment 
which  the  army  had  received  from  Congress.  Indeed,  it 
would  be  hard  to  express  this  too  severely  if  the  truth  were 
told.  The  overt  act  which  the  "  Newburg  Letters,"  as  they 
were  called,  suggested,  was  that  the  army  should  refuse  to 
disband  unless  its  rightful  dues  were  paid.  Congress  was  to 
be  notified  that  this  army  continued  to  exist,  and  could  con- 
tinue to  exist,  with  arms  in  its  hands.  It  had  the  power  until 
it  disbanded.  Let  it  refuse  to  disband  and  it  could  obtain 
its  due.  Such  was  the  writer's  proposal.  He  suggested  a 
meeting  on  the  nth  of  March. 

There  is  much  in  the  Newburg  letters  which  appeals  to 
the  sense  of  justice.  It  is  easy  to  understand  that  this  should 
appeal  very  loudly  to  men  who  felt  that  they  had  been  disre- 
garded and  annoyed. 

This  was  the  moment  when,  if  the  army  acted  on  the  les- 
son taught  by  its  insults  and  wrongs,  it  would  take  for  new- 
born America  the  position  which  Cromwell's  army  took  for 
England,  and  its  leader,  whoever  he  might  be,  would  be  the 
General  Monk  who  should  determine  on  the  next  dynasty. 
To  take  a  name  from  ancient  history,  the  leader  of  this  army 


RETIREMENT  OF  WASHINGTON.  211 

might  make  himself  a  Caesar.  To  take  it  from  modern  his- 
tory, he  might  make  himself  a  Napoleon. 

And  the  man  was  there  ;  but  his  name  was  not  Cromwell, 
Monk,  Caesar  or  Napoleon.     His  name  was  Washington. 

So  soon  as  the  first  of  the  Newburg  letters  was  issued 
Washington  referred  to  it  in  general  orders,  in  terms  which 
seemed  strong  enough  for  the  emergency.  He  certainly  did 
not  mean  to  exaggerate  its  importance.  He  asked  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  army  to  meet  him  on  the  15th  of  the  month 
instead  of  holding  a  meeting  on  the  nth,  as  had  been  pro- 
posed. Armstrong  and  his  friends,  however,  seized  on  the 
moderation  of  these  terms  to  affect  the  impression  in  a  sec- 
ond letter  that  he  was  on  their  side.  If  he  had  meant  more 
he  would  have  said  more,  they  say  with  sufficient  ingenuity. 
In  this  last  letter  they  assented  to  his  proposal  for  a  meeting, 
and  their  meeting  was  abandoned. 

When  the  meeting  took  place  Washington  opened  it  him- 
self in  a  spirited  speech.  He  asked  if  the  anonymous  writer 
of  the  letters  was  not  an  emissary  from  New  York,  attempt- 
ing the  ruin  of  the  country.  He  urged  patience,  begged  the 
officers  to  rely  on  the  justice  of  Congress  and  to  give  one 
more  proof  of  patriotism  and  virtue.  He  pledged  his  own 
exertions  in  their  behalf,  and  then  retired.  Gates  took  the 
chair.  If,  as  is  likely  enough,  he  had  countenanced  the 
anonymous  letters,  he  had  the  gratification  of  putting  to  the 
vote  of  the  meeting  the  resolutions  which  passed.  They 
stated  the  grievances  of  the  army,  but  rejected  with  disdain 
the  proposal  of  the  letters  and  avowed  the  confidence  of  the 
officers  in  Congress.  The  crisis  was  over.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  wait  upon  Congress  with  a  fit  statement  of 
grievances.  But  these  grievances  were  not  formulated  as 
demands.     The  crisis  was  over. 

This  great  service  was  the  last  which  Washington  rendered 
to  his  country  as  commander-in-chief.  He  was  now  to  lay 
down  the  charge  which  he  had  so  willingly  taken  on  the  17th 
of  June,  more  than  eight  years  before.  The  ratification  of  the 
treaty  was  at  last  completed    in    Europe.     A  courteous  note 


<o 


212  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

from  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  the  English  commander,  notified 
Washington  that  the  English  garrison  would  be  withdrawn 
from  New  York  on  the  25th  of  November.  As  post  after 
post  of  English  soldiers  was  withdrawn  successively,  an  ad- 
vance party  of  Americans  took  their  places.  Washington 
sent  to  Carleton  a  courteous  note  to  wish  him  and  his  a 
pleasant  passage,  and  thus  closed  the  correspondence  with 
the  enemy,  which  had  begun  when  he  proposed  an  exchange 
of  prisoners  with  Gage,  and  Gage  had  written  an  impertinent 
letter  back  to  him,  refusing  to  communicate  writh  traitors.  In 
the  interval  the  chief  command  of  the  English  army  had 
changed  three  times.  The  American  army  had  had  but  one 
chief  commander. 

A  few  days  after  the  American  troops  had  taken  possession 
of  New  York  Washington  himself  bade  farewell  to  the 
officers  and  army  in  an  affecting  parting  and  began  his  jour- 
ney to  his  home.  It  was  a  triumphal  march.  The  country 
was  eager  to  express  its  joy  for  peace  and  independence,  and 
found  this  a  fit  occasion. 

As  he  entered  a  town  or  city  the  chief  magistrates  met 
him  with  an  address  of  thanks  and  welcome.  Such  scientific 
or  literary  societies  as  existed,  and  the  representatives  of 
religious  bodies  or  of  colleges,  joined  in  the  general  expres- 
sion of  gratitude.  These  addresses  had  more  than  a  pass- 
ing interest.  They  show  how  the  national  feeling  had  ex- 
tended, since  the  time,  hardly  ten  years  before,  when  the 
divided  colonies  first  sent  their  delegates  to  a  national  Con- 
gress. Washington  acknowledged  their  addresses  with  mod- 
esty and  dignity.  Copies  of  them,  preserved  by  his  care,  are 
now  in  the  Department  of  State. 

The  Continental  Congress,  from  whose  predecessors  Wash- 
ington had  received  his  commission,  was  sitting  at  Annapolis, 
the  capital  of  Maryland.  As  this  body,  which  had  created 
an  army  and  a  navy,  ceased  to  have  such  large  visible  duties, 
it  sank  every  day  more  and  more  in  the  contempt  of  the  peo- 
ple at  large.  It  became  migratory,  and  had  left  Philadelphia 
on  the  occasion  of  some  turbulent  political  public  demonstra- 


WASHINGTON   RESIGNS.  21 3 

tions.  To  Washington,  Annapolis  was  almost  home.  In  his 
earlier  days  it  had  been  his  custom  to  go  there  with  his  wife 
every  year  from  Mount  Vernon,  which  is  not  far  away,  to  join 
in  the  gayeties  which  accompanied  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Assembly.  Here,  in  the  Assembly  chamber,  Congress 
met  to  receive  his  commission  back  from  the  hands  which  had 
held  it  so  triumphantly.  He  had  assumed  it  with  the  expres- 
sion of  his  full  knowledge  that  he  was  incompetent  for  the 
charge  to  which  it  appointed  him.  He  resigned  it  with 
cordial  thanks  to  the  brave  and  steadfast  men  who  had  given 
him  success  in  his  charge,  and  with  gratitude  to  the  Prov- 
idence which  from  such  slight  beginnings  had  created  a 
nation.  \  j 

It  will  be  necessary  in  the  next  chapter  to  follow  the  his- 
tory of  the  great  region  to  the  west.  The  first  steps  of  that 
history  had  been  taken  while  the  sea-board  colonies  were 
engaged  in  war. 


214  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Settlement  of  the  West. 

French  Claims— The  English  Conquest— Exploration  in  Kentucky— Chris- 
topher  Gist  and  Daniel  Boone— George  Washington— First  Settlement 
—Henderson  and  Transylvania— General  Rogers  Clarke— Vincennes— 
Cahokia— Kaskaskia— Indian  Wars  in  Kentucky— The  English  Forts 
After  the  Revolution— Tennessee— The  North-west  Territory— Ohio- 
Indiana — Illinois — Michigan. 

^RAWING  a  straight  line  along  the  map  of  the  United 
-L'     States,  from  Quebec  to  New  Orleans,  one  would  find 
the  original  thirteen  States  lying  almost  entirely  to  the  east 
of  it.     To  the  west  the  country  had  been  claimed  by  France, 
by  the  right  of  discovery.     La  Salle  had  explored  the  Illinois 
country    and  the    Louisiana   country   also.     Marquette   and 
Joliet  had  wandered  over  the  country  about  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Mississippi.    The  French  had  thus  a  claim,  according 
to  the   public   law  of  the    time,  to  the  whole  of  that   great 
country  to  the  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
rivers.     The   English   colonies,  it  may  be   noticed,  also  laid 
claim  to  a  great  part  of  this  territory,  for  their  charters  gave 
them  right  from  sea  to  sea.     But  the  French  had  taken  steps 
to  possess  the  country.     It  was  the  plan  of  the  governors  of 
New   France   to   link    the    two    capitals,  Quebec    and    New 
Orleans,  by  a  chain  of  forts  by  which  to  hold  these  posses- 
sions.    And  there  had  been,  before  the  French  and  Indian 
war,  forts   and   settlements  built  on    this  plan    at    Natches, 
Cahokia  and   Kaskaskia,  on   the  Mississippi,   a   fort    on    the 
Wabash,  Fort  Miamis  on  the  Miami,  a  town  at  Detroit,  as 
well  as   Forts   Niagara,    Duquesne,  Toronto  and  Frontenac. 
Here  is  the  chain  of  French  posts  by  which  New  France,  as 
this  region  was  often  called,  was  to  be  held. 


2l6  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

French  war,  was  received  by  the  Indians  with  honor,  and 
returned  with  good  accounts  of  the  country. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  in  Kentucky  was  made  in 
1774  by  James  Harrod,  with  a  company  who  passed  down  the 
Ohio,  and  thence  some  way  inland,  where  they  founded 
Harrodsburg.  The  next  year  Boone  built  a  fort,  and  soon 
others  were  built.  To  obtain  titles  to  land  was  the  great 
object  of  their  excursions.  Colonel  Henderson  and  others, 
in  1775,  obtained  a  tract  of  land  from  the  Cherokees,  em- 
bracing all  of  the  present  State  of  Kentucky  east  of  the  Ken- 
tucky river.  They  at  once  proceeded  to  occupy  it.  Daniel 
Boone,  leading  forth  a  party,  built  a  fort,  which  was  named 
Boonesborough.  Henderson  sent  out  a  call  for  a  congress  of 
delegates  from  the  settlements  in  the  surrounding  country, 
which  met  at  Boonesborough  and  adopted  the  name  of 
"  Transylvania."  They  drew  up  laws  for  self-government 
among  them;  one  for  punishment  of  profane  swearing  and 
Sabbath-breaking,  and  another  for  the  preserving  the  breed 
of  horses.  Daniel  Boone  carried  the  passage  of  a  bill  for  the 
preservation  of  game.  But  this  government  of  Transylvania 
did  not  last.  The  grant  from  the  Cherokees  was  in  truth 
worthless.  The  whole  country  was  held  at  the  time  to  belong 
to  Virginia.  It  had  been  hitherto  neglected,  or  considered  as 
part  of  the  country  of  Fincastle.  In  1777,  however,  the  whole 
of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Kentucky  was  made  into  the 
county  of  that  name.  Henderson  and  his  Transylvanians 
received  a  grant  of  land  at  the  north  of  the  Green  River  to 
quiet  them  for  the  loss  of  the  ^10,000  which  they  had  paid 
for  the  worthless  Transylvanian  patent. 

George  Rogers  Clark  had  been  sent  in  1776  to  Virginia, 
from  Harrodsburg,  to  see  what  could  be  acomplished  in  re- 
gard to  the  erection  of  a  country.  On  his  return  he  saw  much 
of  the  country  and  traveled  far  north  of  the  Ohio,  among 
the  French  villages  in  Illinois.  The  Revolutionarv  War  had 
now  begun,  and  the  old  French  forts  throughout  the  north- 
west were  held  by  English  garrisons.  Hamilton,  the  Governor 
at  Detroit,  had  heard  of  the  Kentucky  settlements  and  meant 


CLARK  S  SUCCESSES.  2\J 

to  disperse  them.  In  1778  Clark  received  a  commission  from 
Virginia  to  bring  men  for  operations  to  the  north  of  the  Ohio. 
With  one  hundred  and  fifty  backwoodsmen  he  traversed  the 
Illinois  country,  taking  possession  of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia, 
on  the  Mississippi,  and  Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash,  the  inhab- 
itants of  which  swore  allegiance  to  the  United  States.  Vin- 
cennes was,  however,  seized  again  by  a  force  of  Indians  and 
regulars  under  Hamilton,  who  thought  to  make  it  the  base  of 
operations  against  Virginia.  The  next  year  Clark,  hearing  of 
a  good  opportunity,  marched  against  him,  leaving  only  a  few 
men  in  the  village  at  Kaskaskia.  Hamilton  had  weakened 
his  force  by  sending  out  war  parties.  Clark  entered  the  vil- 
lage of  Vincennes  without  difficulty,  and  the  inhabitants 
assisted  him  in  the  reduction  of  the  fort.  Hamilton  and  some 
eighty  men  surrendered.  Clark  followed  up  his  success  by 
the  capture  of  some  reinforcements  which  were  marching 
from  Detroit.  The  conquered  country,  which  came  in  the 
territory  claimed  by  Virginia,  was  organized  under  the  name 
of  the  county  of  Illinois.  To  every  one  of  Clark's  men  was 
granted  two  hundred  acres  of  land  by  the  legislature  of  Vir- 
ginia. Meanwhile  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky  had  not  been 
unmolested.  Although  the  territory  which  they  occupied  had 
not,  before  their  settlement,  been  the  home  of  any  Indian 
tribes,  yet  Indian  raids  from  the  north  were  frequent;  all  the 
more  so  when  the  English  agents  stirred  the  tribes  up  to  the 
warpath.  In  1782  Simon  Girty,  a  famous  partisan  chief, 
crossed  the  Ohio  with  five  or  six  hundred  Indians,  and  at- 
tempted the  surprise  of  Bryan's  Station  ;  but,  deceived  by  a 
noise  within  the  fort,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  his 
approach  had  been  discovered,  and  therefore  he  proceeded 
to  besiege  the  post  rather  than  attempt  to  carry  it  by  storm. 
There  were  only  fifty  men  within,  besides  women  and  chil- 
dren. Messengers  were  at  once  sent  to  the  various  stations, 
whose  forces  only  broke  through  the  Indian  lines  with  the 
utmost  difficulty.  The  garrison  of  the  fort  managed  to  supply 
itself  with  water,  and,  by  a  sortie,  gained  an  advantage  over 
the  enetny.  Girty  withdrew,  in  the  hope  of  surprising,  on 
10 


3 


2l8  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

their  approach,  the  reinforcements  which  it  was  thought 
would  respond  to  the  call  of  the  messengers  who  had  escaped  ; 
but  the  ambush  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  reinforcement 
reached  the  fort  with  small  loss.  Girty  then  summoned  the 
fort  to  surrender,  and  on  its  refusal  withdrew.  The  Ken- 
tuckians  at  once  sallied  out  to  pursue,  and,  shortly  afterward, 
coming  across  Girty  and  his  band,  they  made  a  reckless 
attack  and  were  cut  to  pieces,  with  the  loss  of  one-half  their 
number.  The  loss  was  severe,  but  the  colonists  rallied  under 
it,  and  the  next  year,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Clark, 
a  thousand  men  ravaged  the  country  north  of  the  Ohio  in 
such  fashion  that  no  more  Indian  raids  were  attempted  for 
some  time. 

When  the  Revolutionary  war  closed,  the  Kentuckians  natu- 
rally expected  the  evacuation  of  the  western  posts  of  the 
English,  on  the  Great  Lakes  and  elsewhere  in  the  territory 
conceded  to  be  within  the  United  States.  They  were,  how- 
ever, disappointed  in  this.  The  English  still  held  the  posts. 
Steuben,  who  was  sent  to  receive  the  surrender  of  the  posts, 
was  told  that  no  orders  had  arrived  to  deliver  them  up.  In 
truth,  the  English  held  these  posts  for  some  years,  pending 
the  carrying  out  by  the  United  States  of  another  article  of 
the  Treaty  of  Peace  which  remained  long  unexecuted — the 
payment  to  English  merchants  of  debts  contracted  before 
the  war,  collection  of  which  was  obstructed  by  many  States 
in  ways  which  the  Federal  Government,  in  its  then  weak  con- 
dition, could  not  prevent. 

The  early  history  of  Tennessee  is  that  of  the  State  of 
"  Franklin,"  sometimes  called  Frankland,  and  is  curious  and 
interesting  :  As  early  as  1758,  before  the  settlement  of  Ken- 
tucky, the  inhabitants  of  North  Carolina  had  crossed  the 
mountains  and  settled  in  the  fertile  region  of  the  Cumberland 
River,  until  by  1784  there  were,  perhaps,  ten  thousand  of  them. 
In  this  year  the  State  of  North  Carolina  passed  an  act  whereby 
her  western  lands  were  ceded  to  the  United  States.  There 
were  many  reasons  for  this  in  the  minds  of  the  legislature,  but 
the  act  aroused  profound  dissatisfaction  in  the  minds  of  the 


TENNESSEE   AND   KENTUCKY.  219 

inhabitants  of  the  ceded  counties,  which  increased  when 
Congress,  at  that  time  a  long  way  off,  as  things  were,  did  noth- 
ing at  all  about  it.  The  frontiersmen  were  deserted.  They 
had  no  government,  no  militia,  nothing.  They  at  once  gath- 
ered together,  called  conventions,  and  elected  delegates,  and, 
meeting  at  Jonesborough,  they  made  themselves  into  an  in- 
dependent State,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  "  Franklin," 
and  proceeded  to  adopt  a  constitution  and  send  a  petition  to 
Congress  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  They  had  some 
difficulties  about  these  measures,  and  they  were  by  no  means 
completed  when  the  North  Carolinians  changed  their  minds 
and  thought  they  would  rather  keep  their  western  lands  to 
themselves.  The  legislature,  therefore,  repealed  the  act  of 
cession,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  the  administration 
of  justice,  and  for  the  militia  of  the  frontier  counties.  There 
were  shortly  two  sets  of  authorities  in  Franklin.  There  were 
two  sets  of  law-makers.  There  were  two  sets  of  judges,  who 
greatly  disturbed  their  respective  legal  proceedings.  There 
were  two  sets  of  taxgatherers,  a  superfluity  which  rendered 
both  impracticable.  Not  to  be  too  long,  the  result,  which 
could  hardly  be  doubtful,  came  in  1787.  The  better  or- 
ganization of  the  older  State  prevailed,  and  the  rude  ar- 
rangements of  the  mountaineers  fell  to  pieces.  Sevier,  the 
Governor  of  the  short-lived  State,  was  put  on  trial  for  trea- 
son. Various  exciting  events  followed.  Sevier  was  rescued 
and  pardoned.  He  subsequently  returned  "to  his  country, 
where  he  was  quite  as  popular  as  ever.  As  for  the  former 
Franklin,  North  Carolina  again  ceded  it  to  the  United  States 
in  1789,  at  which  time  it  was  organized  under  the  name  of  the 
Territory  of  Tennessee.  In  1779  it  was  admitted  as  a  State. 
Kentucky  had  been  admitted  some  years  earlier.  In  the 
years  immediately  following  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  the  desire  of  separation  from  Virginia  had  grown  more 
and  more  general.  Virginia  was  not  disinclined  to  allow  the 
young  country  to  set  up  for  itself,  and  in  1786  her  General 
Assembly  passed  an  act  of  session  whereby  Kentucky  might 
be  separated  from  Virginia  provided  that  before  the   first  of 


220  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

June,  1787,  Congress  should  vote  her  admission  into  the  Union. 
This  Congress  by  no  means  did;  it  was  not  so  much  that  there 
was  opposition  to  the  admission  of  Kentucky,  but  Congress 
acted  slowly,  and  the  matter  needed  due  consideration.  Mean- 
while the  Kentuckians  grew  impatient  and  turned  their  atten- 
tion in  another  direction,  as  will  be  seen  in  another  chapter. 
They  had  to  look  west  and  south  as  well  as  east  and  north. 

In  1 79 1  Congress  finally  passed  an  act  whereby  Kentucky 
became  a  State.  There  was  no  opposition  in  Kentucky  to 
the  arrangement.  All  the  Spanish  intrigues  had  probably 
been  merely  either  a  last  resort  of  men  who  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  become  a  part  of  the  United  States,  or  schemes  of 
uninfluential  adventurers. 

North  of  the  Ohio,  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi  was 
known  under  the  general  name  of  the  North-west  Territory. 
The  right  to  it  under  the  old  charters  was  utterly  confused. 
Massachusetts,  as  the  reader  knows,  had  a  claim  to  the  South 
Sea,  as  wide,  at  least,  as  the  longer  part  of  Massachusetts  is 
to-day;  Virginia  had  a  similar  claim;  and  hardly  less  than 
hers  was  the  claim  of  New  York  and  that  of  Connecticut. 
All  these,  however,  had  been  ceded  to  the  United  States  by 
acts  of  patriotism  and  self-devotion  on  the  parts  of  the  States 
which  held  them. 

When  the  Revolutionary  War  was  at  an  end,  and  the  atten- 
tion of  the  nation  could  be  turned  to  this  region,  a  great  im- 
pulse for  emigration  across  the  Alleghanies  set  in.  Although 
the  State  of  Kentucky  had  been  by  this  time  so  thickly  pop- 
ulated that  it  was  seeking  admission  to  the  Union,  the  rich 
and  fertile  country  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Great  Lakes 
was  still  unsettled.  Congress  was  busy  with  schemes  for  its 
government,  but  it  had  not  yet  been  settled.  There  were 
some  few  garrisoned  forts  in  the  country.  Near  the  old 
French  Fort  Venango,  on  French  Creek,  was  Fort  Franklin. 
Fort  Vincennes  was  on  the  Wabash.  Fort  Steuben  was  near 
the  Ohio  River,  opposite  the  present  site  of  Louisville. 
There  were  not  a  few  settlers  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  but 
the  interior  was  still  unoccupied  by  white  men. 


MARIETTA.  221 

In  1785  Benjamin  Tupper  returned  to  New  England  from 
a  surveying  trip  in  the  Ohio  with  his  mind  full  of  the  splen- 
did country  which  he  had  seen.  Conferring  with  his  friend 
Rufus  Putnam,  the  two  put  before  the  public  the  scheme  of 
the  Ohio  Company.  In  the  early  part  of  1786  a  notice  ap- 
peared in  certain  of  the  Massachusetts  newspapers  calling 
the  attention  of  old  soldiers  of  the  war,  and  such  others  as 
might  be  able  to  profit  by  the  land  ordinances  of  Congress,  to 
a  scheme  for  settling  the  Ohio  country.  A  meeting  was  called 
of  delegates  from  all  over  the  State,  who  adopted  a  plan  for 
the  raising  of  money  for  the  purchase  of  western  land  and 
the  settlement  thereof.  One  million  dollars  were  to  be  raised 
in  thousand-dollar  shares  within  the  year.  The  next  year,  a 
sufficient  sum  being  raised,  the  directors  met  to  consider 
plans.  A  memorial  had  been  presented  to  Congress  for  the 
purchase  of  lands,  and  now  Manasseh  Cutler  was  sent  to 
New  York  to  further  the  bargain. 

Congress  was  by  no  means  indisposed  to  accede  to  the  de- 
sires of  the  company.  It  desired  to  have  the  western  lands 
settled,  and  was  particularly  desirous  that  those  lands  should 
be  settled  by  a  hardy  set  of  veterans,  and  it  was  also  pleased 
at  finding  something  to  occupy  the  disbanded  army.  Yet 
there  were  difficulties  in  the  way.  But  Cutler  seems  to  have 
been  skillful  in  negotiation,  as  he  was  in  many  other  respects, 
and  in  October,  1787,  the  government  sold  five  million  acres 
of  land  on  the  Ohio.  Of  this,  one  million  and  a  half  were  for 
the  Ohio  Company.  The  price  per  acre  was  one  dollar  of 
United  States  certificates,  worth  about  twelve  cents. 

The   company  immediately  set  vigorously  to  work.     The       \£- 
first  colony  was  ready  to  start  in  a  month.    They  started  from      *J 
Hartford,  spent  the  winter  in  the   neighborhood  of  Pittsburg, 
and  when  the   river   opened  they  set  out  down   the  stream  in 
a  flat-boat,  which  they  named  the  Mayflower.     They  landed 
near  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Muskingum.     In  a 
few   months   they  were    joined   by   another  company,  under 
Cutler.     The   settlement   thus  made  was  called  Marietta,  in      1 
honor  of  the  Queen  of  France.     Shortly  after  this,  a  little 


222  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

farther  down  the  river,  another  settlement  was  made,  with 
the  eccentric  name  of  Losantiville,  which  anyone  conversant 
with  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  will  easily  understand  means 
"  the  city  opposite  the  mouth  "  of  the  Licking  River.  This 
was  settled  on  land  bought  of  Congress  by  one  Symmes, 
with  whom  were  interested  certain  others. 

These  were  the  first  settlements,  but  they  were  not  long  the 
only  ones.  A  strong  tide  of  emigration  began  to  flow  in  the 
direction  of  the  Ohio  country.  The  Ohio  Company  in  New 
England  sent  large  numbers.  The  private  owners  of  tracts 
also  sent  many.  In  the  year  1788  as  many  as  ten  thousand 
emigrants  are  said  to  have  passed  Marietta  on  their  way 
down  stream.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  western 
part  of  New  York  and  of  Pennsylvania  were  at  that  time  un- 
settled, and  that  they  had  to  be  filled  up,  as  well  as  the  im- 
mense tract  now  included  in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois.  Even  down  to  the  close  of  the  century,  Western 
New  York  and  the  country  of  Eastern  Ohio  was  the  Far 
West.  Emigration  was  continual.  Some  men  passed  along  the 
Mohawk  Valley,  by  way  of  Albany,  and  settled  in  Western 
New  York.  Others  crossed  the  mountains  to  Pittsburg  or 
Wheeling,  and  passed  the  Ohio.  A  line  of  packets  was  started 
in  1794  between  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburg.  The  trip  was  made 
in  vessels  heavily  armed,  for  fear  of  Indians.  In  truth,  the 
redskins  had  kept  the  Ohio  settlements  pretty  closely  to  the 
river.  But  after  Wayne's  expedition  had  struck  terror  among 
the  tribes,  colonization  became  more  rapid.  The  population 
increased  rapidly.  In  1790  there  were  in  the  country  between 
the  Ohio  and  the  Great  Lakes  about  five  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, all  told.  In  1800  there  were  fifty-one  thousand.  In 
Kentucky  the  increase  had  also  been  great.  The  first  census 
gave  seventy-three  thousand,  the  second  three  times  as  many. 

Provision  had  been  made  by  Congress  in  the  year  1787  for 
the  government  of  the  public  lands.  There  had  been  many 
plans  submitted  especially  for  this  large  region.  One  of 
them  contemplated  the  erection  of  seventeen  States  out  of 
the  country  to  the  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the 


WESTERN   STATES.  223 

Mississippi.  Another  suggested  various  names  for  the  pro- 
posed States.  Sylvania,  Chersonesus,  Meopotamia,  Sara- 
toga, Assenisippia,  and  others  of  like  nature,  would  have 
rendered  the  Central  States  and  their  capitals  a  harder  lesson 
for  the  schoolboy  than  it  is  now.  The  measures  passed  by 
Congress  in  1787  provided  for  the  formation  of  Territories  by 
the  United  States  and  for  their  government.  When  any  Ter- 
ritory reached  sixty  thousand  in  number  it  might  be  admitted 
to  the  Union.  In  1787,  by  the  North-west  Ordinance,  the 
whole  of  this  country  was  formed  into  the  North-west  Terri- 
tory, and,  by  a  special  provision,  slavery  was  forever  excluded 
from  its  limits.  Ohio  was  named  as  a  separate  Territory  in 
1800,  and  the  government  or  Territory  of  Indiana  formed  in 
the  same  year.  In  1805  the  Territory  of  Michigan  was  formed 
and  in  1809  that  of  Illinois.  In  1816  Indiana  became  a 
State,  Illinois  in  1818,  and  Michigan  in  1836.  The  present 
State  of  Ohio  was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1802. 


224  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  Texas. 

Discovery  of  the  Great  West — Robert  Cavalier  de  la  Salle — Lemoyne 
dTberville — The  French  Possess  Louisiana — Financial  Schemes  of 
John  Law— Settlement  of  New  Orleans — French  and  Indian  Troubles 
— Massacre  of  the  French  by  the  Natchez  Tribe — The  French  and 
the  Choctaws  defeat  the  Natchez — Bienville  appointed  Governor  of 
New  Orleans— End  of  French  and  Indian  War — France  deprived  of 
her  American  Possessions,  including  Canada  and  Florida — Spain  ac- 
quires Louisiana — Opposition  to  Spanish  Rule  by  the  Inhabitants 
— Order  Finally  Restored  and  Spanish  Government  Established — Im- 
portance of  Navigation  on  the  Mississippi — Objects  of  First  Settlers — 
Spanish  Annoyances — The  Confederacy  is  powerless — Intrigues  of 
Spain  and  England — Spanish  Governors— Adams's  plans — Miranda — 
Hamilton — Wilkinson — Napoleon's  plans—  Philip  Nolan — Texas. 

THE  French  were  the  first  Europeans  to  discover  the 
Great  West.  By  their  explorers  was  the  Mississippi 
discovered  in  its  upper  waters,  and  by  their  explorers  was  it 
followed  through  the  whole  length  of  its  mighty  course.  By 
the  French  were  the  first  settlements  planted  on  the  great 
lakes  and  on  the  great  rivers  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Mich- 
igan, and  Wisconsin,  as  well  as  within  the  boundaries  of  all 
those  States  from  north  to  south  which  border  on  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

An  English  writer,  of  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
claims  that  the  Mississippi  was  discovered  by  the  fur-traders 
of  Massachusetts,  and  that  the  French  took  their  Indian 
guides  with  them  in  the  voyage  of  La  Salle.  It  is  certain  that 
La  Salle's  guides  were  from  the  province  of  Maine,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  say  why,  unless  he  thought  they  knew  the  way  bet- 
ter than  Indians  of  Canadian  provinces  ;  but  no  record  or 
memory  of  a  discovery  by  Massachusetts  men  now  exists  in 
that  State. 


ROBERT  CAVALIER   DE   LA   SALLE.  22$ 

It  was  in  the  year  1673  that  two  French  priests,  Marquette 
and  Joliet,  with  several  companions  and  two  Indian  guides, 
embarked  on  the  Wisconsin  River  and  floated  down  stream 
toward  the  Mississippi.  They  had  wandered  over  great  parts 
of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  in  their  missionary  efforts,  and 
now,  with  the  assistance  of  the  government  at  Quebec,  they 
were  setting  forth  to  discover  the  great  river  which,  as  they 
supposed,  would  show  them  a  short  road  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
The  party  passed  down  the  Wisconsin,  and  in  a  week's  time 
reached  the  great  river  ;  with  great  joy  they  set  their  sails  and 
took  their  way  downward.  They  passed  by  the  mouth  of 
the  Missouri  and  then  the  Ohio,  and  finally,  having  reached  a 
point  opposite  the  Arkansas  River,  they  turned  back  and  made 
their  way  home.  They  had  satisfied  themselves  that  the  great 
river  flowed  not  into  the  Gulf  of  California  but  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  they  feared  that  they  should  fall  into  the 
hands  of  Spainards,  whereby  the  fruits  of  their  expedition 
might  be  lost.  Marquette  died  on  the  journey  home,  and 
was  buried  in  Michigan,  near  the  river  which  now  bears  his 
name. 

The  work  thus  begun  was  taken  in  hand  by  a  man  fit  to 
accomplish  it.  Robert  Cavalier  de  la  Salle  was  a  man  who 
looked  to  the  west  for  his  fortune.  In  the  year  1677  he  set 
forth  on  an  expedition  which  resulted  in  nothing  more  than 
an  exploration  of  the  Illinois  country,  though  Father  Henne- 
pin, who  started  with  him,  affirms  that  he  himself,  with  another, 
sailed  down  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
it  is  generally  agreed  that  Hennepin  sailed  up  the  river  as  far 
as  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  where  he  was  taken  prisoner  by 
the  Sioux.  But  La  Salle's  second  expedition  was  more  suc- 
cessful. They  made  their  way  up  the  Chicago  River,  and  so 
across  to  the  Illinois  and  then  down  the  Mississippi.  On  the 
6th  of  April,  1682,  they  reached  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi. 
On  the  next  day  La  Salle  explored  the  south-west  passage  to 
the  sea,  and  on  the  9th  he  planted  a  column  and  a  cross,  with 
the  arms  of  France  displayed,  and  formally  took  possession,  in 

the  name  of  Louis  XIV.,  of  the  whole  basin  of  the  river  which 
10* 


; 


226  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

he  had  opened  to  the  world.  This  included  the  country  of 
the  Mississippi  and  of  all  its  tributaries  from  the  Ohio  country 
on  the  east  to  the  lands  drained  by  the  Missouri  on  the  west. 
On  this  discovery  rested  the  claim  of  France  to  Louisiana,  as 
the  new  province  was  called,  and  it  has  been  practically  re- 
spected to  this  day.  It  is  on  this  claim  that  the  United  States 
to-day  holds  Louisiana,  and  all  the  country  north  of  Texas 
lying  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  expedition  returned  by  the  way  it  had  come,  and  La 
Salle  sailed  for  France  to  make  interest  for  the  colonization 
of  the  new  region.  It  lay  in  his  mind  to  begin  at  the  other 
end,  and  accordingly,  in  1684,  with  a  squadron  of  four  ves- 
sels, he  sailed  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  found  a  colony  on  the 
river  which  he  had  discovered.  The  colony  was  well  equip- 
ped and  provided  for.  But  through  the  imperfect  calculations 
of  that  day  he  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  did 
not  discover  his  error  until  he  had  gone  so  far  beyond  if  that 
the  naval  officer  who  commanded  the  ships  refused  to  return 
to  it.  The  settlement  was  therfore  made  within  the  limits  of 
the  present  State  of  Texas,  in  Matagorda  Bay.  Beaujeu,  with 
the  ships,  sailed  away  and  left  the  colony.  He  subsequently 
spread  such  reports  in  regard  to  it  that  the  aid  which  had 
been  promised  was  not  sent.  Left  to  itself,  the  colony  fared 
but  ill.  La  Salle  made  many  expeditions  to  find  the  fatal  river. 
Finally,  things  being  in  a  deplorable  state,  he  determined  to 
march  across  the  continent  to  Canada  to  obtain  some  assist- 
ance for  his  colony.  He  started  forth  with  about  twenty 
men.  On  the  way  quarrels  arose  among  his  followers.  La 
Salle  himself  was  shot  down  and  killed,  and  the  expedition 
was  broken  up.  Some  of  them  found  their  way  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  then  to  Canada.  But  what  became  of  the  colony 
is  unknown.  It  was  fifteen  years  before  another  attempt  was 
made.  The  only  French  settlement  was  a  cottage  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Arkansas. 

After  the  peace  of  Ryswick,  Lemoyne  dTberville,  a  Canadian 
nobleman  in  the  French  naval  service,  received  the  charge 
of  an  expedition  planned  by  Louis  XIV.  to  colonize  the  new 


JOHN   LAW.  227 

province.  Before  they  reached  America,  Spain  had  already 
settled  at  Pensacola,  which  thus  became  part  of  Florida.  But 
d'Iberville,  with  his,  brother,  known  as  Bienville,  sailed  on 
farther,  and  made  a  settlement  on  the  island  of  Biloxi,  in  Mo- 
bile Bay,  in  the  year  1699.  Shortly  after,  a  second  post  was 
settled  on  the  Mississippi,  some  thirty  or  forty  miles  below  the 
site  of  New  Orleans.  There  was  permanent  possession  taken 
by  France  of  the  Territory  of  Louisiana. 

The  claims  of  the  English  to  the  region  were  disputed,  and 
France  and  Spain  being  at  that  time  in  alliance  against  the 
rest  of  Europe,  the  French  in  Louisiana  were  assisted  upon 
occasion  by  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico  and  Florida.  They 
opened  communication  with  Canada,  and  are  said  to  have 
brought  copper  from  the  Lake  Superior  region.  The  brothers 
d'Iberville  and  Bienville  exercised  the  chief  power  in  the  lit- 
tle settlement,  which  for  the  first  fifteen  years,  probably,  had 
never  more  than  five  hundred  inhabitants,  white  and  black, 
soldiers  and  all.  With  the  end  of  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Suc- 
cession more  interest  was  taken  by  France  in  her  new  colony; 
but  little  came  from  it  more  than  the  appointment  of  officers 
who  quarreled  with  Bienville.  He  inherited  the  influence 
of  his  brother  who  had  died  some  years  before.  But  in  1707, 
the  colony  being  made  over  to  the  "Western  Company," 
under  John  Law,  Bienville  was  himself  made  governor-gen- 
eral of  Louisiana. 

John  Law,  the  son  of  a  rich  goldsmith  of  Edinburgh,  was 
well  advanced  in  life  when,  in  17 16,  he  proposed  his  financial 
schemes  to  the  Regent  d'Orleans,  who  was  now  in  power  after 
the  death  of  Louis  XIV.  Law  had  received  a  good  education, 
learned  a  good  deal  of  gambling,  killed  a  man  in  a  duel,  and 
had  escaped  his  country,  when,  about  1698,  he  found  himself 
in  Amsterdam,  where  he  employed  his  time  in  the  study  of 
banking.  Here  he  conceived  certain  financial  theories  which 
he  successively  propounded  in  Scotland,  France,  Italy,  and 
Germany,  but  without  any  success.  But  in  17 16,  as  we  have 
said,  he  propounded  his  plans  in  France  again,  and  this  time 
with  success.     He  was  allowed  to  establish  a  private  bank 


228  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

to  discount  notes  and  issue  notes  redeemable  in  coin.  He 
proved  successful,  and  was  allowed  to  enlarge  his  operations. 
The  notes  were  made  legal  tender,  and  were  a  great  conve- 
nience to  the  nation  at  that  time,  at  the  last  gasp,  as  far  as 
public  credit  was  concerned — such  was  its  suffering  from  the 
extravagant  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  One  feature  in  Law's 
scheme  was  the  management  of  monopolies.  He  now  be- 
came the  successor  to  Crozat,  to  whom  the  monopoly  of  the 
Mississippi  trade  had  been  granted.  Law  was  allowed  to 
form  a  company  which  should  have  a  monopoly  of  the  beaver 
trade  of  Canada  and  the  whole  commerce  of  Louisiana.  A 
company  was  at  once  formed,  which  issued  more  bonds,  and 
the  work  of  colonization  was  pressed  with  much  vigor  and 
expense  but  with  little  enough  result.  Bienville,  as  we  have 
said,  was  appointed  governor,  and  was  bidden  to  find  a  good 
and  suitable  spot  for  the  capital.  The  new  town  was  named 
New  Orleans,  in  honor  of  the  Regent,  who  was  the  patron  of 
the  Mississippi  Company.  Law's  schemes  became  more  and 
mord  popular,  more  and  more  privileges  and  monopolies 
were  granted,  more  and  more  paper  was  issued,  until  finally, 
at  the  very  height  of  speculation,  the  company  became  bank- 
rupt without  having  accomplished  any  thing.  Louisiana  was 
restored  to  the  king  by  the  Mississippi  Company,  hardly  any 
better  off  than  it  had  been  before  such  high  hopes  had  been 
formed  and  so  much  money  wasted.  The  city  of  New  Or- 
leans was  hardly  any  thing  more  than  a  collection  of  tents 
and  huts,  where  one  or  two  hundred  miserable  creatures  man- 
aged to  exist.  The  other  settlements  were  as  badly  off. 
Large  sums  of  money  had  been  lavished  to  almost  no  pur- 
pose. But  a  beginning  had  been  made.  Before  the  charter 
of  the  Mississippi  Company  had  been  given  up  the  colony 
had  entered  upon  its  experience  of  Indian  wars.  Up  the 
river  was  the  tribe  of  Natchez  Indians,  among  whom  the 
French  had  established  a  trading  station,  the  most  prosperous 
on  the  river.  Unlike  the  usual  custom  of  the  French  in 
their  dealings  with  the  native  tribes,  Chopart,  the  comman- 
dant, was  foolish  enough  to  demand,  as  a  plantation  for  him- 


BIENVILLE  S   CAMPAIGN.  22Q 

self,  the  land  whereon  stood  the  great  village  of  the  Natchez. 
The  Indians  were  deeply  outraged.  They  planned  with  the 
Choctaws,  near  New  Orleans,  to  massacre  all  the  French  in 
the  land.  The  respective  chiefs  exchanged  bundles  of  sticks 
of  equal  number.  One  stick  was  to  be  burnt  each  day,  and 
when  all  were  gone  the  attack  was  to  be  made.  One  day  the 
son  of  the  Natchez  chief,  observing  his  father  burning  the 
stick,  laid  hold  of  the  bundle  and  burned  two  of  those  which 
were  left.  Therefore  the  Natchez  made  the  attack  two  days 
before  the  appointed  time.  Their  attack  was  successful. 
Two  hundred  of  the  French  were  killed,  and  their  women 
and  children  made  prisoners. 

Down  the  river,  Perier,  the  governor  of  New  Orleans,  sus- 
pecting some  mischief,  had  managed  to  put  off  the  Choctaws 
for  a  few  days,  by  which  time  news  of  the  Natchez  massacre 
came  down  the  river  and  incensed  the  Choctaws,  who  were 
indignant  at  the  breaking  of  the  solemn  treaty.  Perier  found 
little  difficulty  in  persuading  them  to  join  him  in  an  attack 
on  the  Natchez.  On  January  28,  1730,  while  the  Natchez 
were  sleeping  off  the  effects  of  a  festivity,  the  Choctaws  broke 
in  upon  them  and  took  away  their  prisoners.  The  French 
coming  up  shortly,  the  Natchez  were  attacked  and  worsted. 
Many  were  taken  prisoners  and  sold  into  slavery.  Many 
found  refuge  among  other  and  distant  tribes.  The  descend- 
ants of  them  live  with  the  Creek  nation  to  this  day. 

Bienville,  who  had  returned  to  Europe,  was  again  appointed 
governor  by  the  king,  and  arrived  in  New  Orleans  a  little 
more  than  a  year  after  the  Natchez  affair.  He,  too,  became 
involved  in  an  Indian  war,  which  turned  out  disastrously. 
He  made  demands  on  the  Chickasaw  Indians,  the  most  war- 
like of  the  Southern  tribes,  and  receiving  an  unfavorable 
answer,  determined  on  an  expedition  against  them.  D'Arta- 
quette,  who  commanded  at  Caskaskia,  far  up  the  river,  was 
ordered  to  join  him.  The  expedition  failed.  The  two  forces 
did  not  meet.  D'Artaquette,  urged  on  by  his  Indian  allies, 
made  an  attack  alone,  and  was  defeated.  He  himself  and 
almost  fifty  Frenchmen  were  captured  and  burned  to  death. 


230  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Bienville's  effort  was  also  unsuccessful,  but  he  and  his  force 
managed  to  escape  with  their  lives  after  two  unavailing  at- 
tacks on  the  Chickasaw  fort. 

Bienville  was  succeeded  by  Vaudreuil,  who  remained  in 
the  colony  eight  years,  after  which  he  was  transferred  to 
Canada,  where  he  worked  not  wholly  in  harmony  with  Mont- 
calm in  the  "  French  and  Indian  War."  Under  his  adminis- 
tration there  is  not  much  to  chronicle,  except  the  gradual 
increase  in  population,  and  gradual  advance  in  cultivation  of 
the  soil  and  of  commerce.  In  1745  New  Orleans  had  in- 
creased to  a  population  of  eight  hundred  male  white  settlers. 
There  were  about  three  hundred  blacks  and  two  hundred 
soldiers.  The  town  was  well  laid  out  around  the  Place 
d'Armes,  now  known  as  Jackson  Square,  with  streets  running 
at  right  angles.  It  was  surrounded  by  a  stockade.  Some 
few  houses  at  this  time  were  of  brick,  but  the  larger  number 
were  of  wood.  Farther  up  the  river  there  were  quite  a  num- 
ber of  settlers  in  Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  a  number  of 
blacks  there  as  well.  There  were  in  all,  counting  in  soldiers 
and  negroes,  perhaps  six  thousand  inhabitants  at  the  end  of 
half  a  century  of  settlement. 

By  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  which  ended  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  generally  called  the  "  French  and  Indian  War  "  by  our 
fathers,  more  changes  were  made  in  the  map  of  America  than 
in  that  of  Europe.  France  wholly  deprived  herself  of  her 
American  possessions.  Canada  was  ceded  to  England.  Under 
the  name,  Canada,  were  included  all  the  French  possessions  to 
the  north  of  the  Ohio  and  west  of  the  Mississippi.  France 
had  already  made  over  Louisiana  to  Spain  in  recompense  for 
Florida  ceded  by  that  country  to  England.  Thus  England 
gained  possession  of  all  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
save  a  small  territory  east  of  its  mouth,  while  Spain  pos- 
sessed all  to  the  west.  The  cession  was  made  known  to  the 
inhabitants  by  a  letter  from  Louis  XV.,  dated  April  21,  1764. 
The  whole  colony  was  plunged  in  grief.  It  was  felt  that  they 
had  been  degraded,  bartered  like  merchandise,  humiliated  by 
"their  sudden   transformation  into  Spaniards  or  Englishmen 


SPAIN   IN   LOUISIANA.  23 1 

without  their  consent."  They  resolved  to  make  petition  to 
the  king.  But  nothing  could  be  done.  In  1765  a  letter  was 
received  from  Ulloa,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  king  of 
Spain  to  take  possession  of  the  town.  But  he  did  not  him- 
self arrive  in  New  Orleans  till  March,  1765.  When  he  did 
arrive  he  found  the  people  resolute  against  him,  and  could 
accomplish  nothing,  and  was  forced  to  retire  to  the  Balise. 
It  was  thought  possible  to  make  Louisiana  a  republic.  The 
inhabitants  sent  another  appeal  to  France.  But  there  was  no 
help  from  that  quarter.  It  was  not  French  policy  to  retain 
colonial  property  in  America.  In  July,  1769,  O'Reilly  landed 
in  the  country  and  made  his  way  to  New  Orleans.  A  Spanish 
fleet  anchored  before  the  city,  and  those  who  had  been 
foremost  in  the  rebellious  proceedings  were  arrested.  After 
two  months'  imprisonment  they  were  tried  and  the  greater 
number  condemned.  Some  were  imprisoned,  others  executed. 
The  people  were  intimidated,  and  the  government  now  passed 
quietly  into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards. 

By  the  other  transfer  in  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  the  Floridas, 
both  east  and  west,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 
East  Plorida,  represented  by  the  town  of  St.  Augustine,  had 
been  long  before  settled  by  the  Spanish,  and  by  them  held 
against  all  English  and  French  attacks.  We  remember  the 
expedition  of  Oglethorpe  in  1740.  West  Florida  was  held  by 
the  Spanish  fort  at  Pensacola,  which  had  been  captured  by 
Bienville  with  a  force  from  Louisiana,  recaptured  by  the 
Spaniards,  and  once  more  taken  by  Bienville  and  destroyed. 
But  the  Spaniards  had  returned  and  rebuilt  the  town  on  an 
island  in  the  harbor.  In  the  Seven  Years'  War  the  declara- 
tion of  war  had  hardly  been  made  before  an  English  fleet 
and  army  had  seized  Havana,  and  in  the  peace  which  ended 
the  struggle  Spain  was  glad  to  exchange  both  the  Floridas 
against  Havana.  Thus  the  English  possessions  extended  the 
whole  length  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  of  North  America.  En- 
gland gained  little  else  than  territory  in  this  cession,  for  Spain 
had  only  held  Florida  as  a  means  of  insuring  her  command  of 
the  Gulf,  and  there  was  probably  a  Spanish  population  of  less 


232  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

than  four  thousand  in  the  whole  cession.  The  boundary  be- 
tween West  Florida  and  Louisiana  was  unsettled,  but  Gov- 
ernor Johnston,  appointed  to  West  Florida,  proceeded  at  once 
to  occupy  the  Forts  Conde,  Toulouse,  Baton  Rouge,  and 
Natchez,  indeed  all  the  territory  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  except  New  Orleans,  and  this  claim  was  acceded 
to.  So  soon  as  the  American  Revolution  broke  out,  Oliver 
Pollock,  a  spirited  American  merchant  living  in  New  Orleans, 
made  secret  arrangements  with  the  Spanish  governor  by  which 
he  sent  powder  up  the  river  to  Pittsburg  for  the  relief  of 
the  army  of  the  Congress.  In  1779,  Spain  having  declared 
war  against  England,  operations  were  at  once  directed  by 
the  Governor  of  New  Orleans  against  all  the  English 
posts,  and  with  much  success.  Manchac,  Baton  Rouge,  and 
Natchez  were  captured  at  once.  Mobile  was  taken  the  next 
year,  and  in  1781  a  strong  expedition  from  Havana  sailed 
for  Pensacola  to  co-operate  with  Galvez,  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernor. The  fort  was  besieged  and  captured.  In  the  Treaty 
of  1783  the  Floridas  were  ceded  back  again  to  Spain.  By 
Spain  they  were  held  until  181 9,  when  both  Floridas  were 
ceded  to  the  United  States. 

The  Spanish  domination  lasted  thirty-four  years.  It  made 
little  impression  on  the  people,  who  had  hated  the  new  gov- 
ernment, and  retained  their  nationality  doggedly  under  for- 
eign rule.  The  visitor  to  New  Orleans  will  notice  on  each  side 
of  the  French  cathedral  on  Jackson  Square,  a  large  build- 
ing covered  with  stucco.  They  were  the  Spanish  government 
buildings.  Farther  along,  without  the  boundaries  of  the  old 
French  town,  is  the  Calabosa,  or  slaves'  jail,  also  a  Spanish 
building. 

But  although  the  people  did  not  at  once  accommodate 
themselves  to  the  Spanish  rule,  they  did  not,  after  the  first 
outbreak,  make  any  serious  disturbance.  Even  O'Reilly, 
whose  first  proceedings  were  so  severe,  was  not  utterly  hate- 
ful to  them.  He  stayed  but  a  year,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Unzaga. 

One  Spanish  governor  after  another  came  and  went,  and 


NAVIGATION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  233 

the  town  of  New  Orleans  grew  and  prospered,  and  the  prov- 
ince of  Louisiana  also.  The  soil  gave  them  good  return  for 
their  labor,  and  the  great  river  was  a  great  source  of  wealth, 
for,  as  time  went  on,  and  the  country  to  the  north  became 
more  and  more  settled,  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  be- 
came of  more  and  more  importance,  and  the  power  which 
controlled  it,  as  Spain  did  by  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  could 
prescribe  what  conditions  she  pleased. 

As  time  went  on,  and  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  became 
more  and  more  thickly  settled,  and  as  the  tide  of  emigration 
began  to  flow  over  the  north-west  territory,  the  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi  became  more  and  more  a  matter  of  vital  im- 
portance. To  New  England,  a  seafaring  country,  the  New- 
foundland fisheries  seemed  of  more  account,  and  the  other 
States  to  the  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  having  each  their  own 
affairs,  could  not  feel  the  importance  of  the  Mississippi  ques- 
tion as  keenly  as  did  the  frontiersmen.  Therefore,  when  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  became  a  question  for  ne- 
gotiation with  Spain  after  the  conclusion  of  peace  with  En- 
gland, the  western  settlers  looked  with  jealousy  at  the  delays 
in  negotiation,  and  turned  their  eyes  to  the  Spanish  provinces 
down  the  river.  They  had  come  for  fertile  lands,  in  the 
thought  of  making  for  themselves  productive  farms  and 
happy  homes.  As  they  gained  these  farms  and  homes,  and 
produced,  by  their  prosperous  work,  crops  which  they  wished 
to  sell,  their  outlet  to  the  world  of  commerce  became  impor- 
tant to  them.  Furs,  wheat,  Indian  corn  or  tobacco  could 
not  be  hauled  across  the  mountains.  If  such  products  were 
to  be  sold,  they  must  go  down  the  great  rivers  of  Ohio,  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee  to  the  Mississippi  and  so  find  the  pur- 
chasers of  the  world. 

So  long  as  the  alliance  existed  between  the  insurgent  col- 
onies, France  and  Spain,  all  had  been  harmony.  One  and 
another  expedition  against  the  English  were  fitted  out,  with 
the  Spanish  assistance,  while  the  war  lasted. 

But  with  the  return  of  peace  the  Spanish  authorities 
asserted  the  advantage  which  their  position  gave  them.     The 


234  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

new  settlers  of  the  territory  on  the  Ohio  built  ships  from  the 
pine  timber  which  they  found  there,  and  sent  them,  ready  for 
sea,  down  the  Mississippi.  But  when  they  arrived  in  New  Or- 
leans they  could  not  pass  if  the  Spanish  governor  refused  per- 
mission. On  the  southern  side  of  the  Ohio  the  planters  already 
raised  tobacco,  which  would  have  been  in  large  demand  in 
Europe.  But  this  tobacco  could  not  pass  New  Orleans  with- 
out paying  tribute  to  the  Spanish  authorities,  if,  indeed,  they 
did  not  confiscate  it,  or  insist  on  purchasing  it  at  their  own 
price,  on  account  of  the  King  of  Spain. 

Half  Eastern  Europe  assents  to-day  to  such  an  arrange- 
ment, by  which  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  may  do  as  he  chooses 
with  the  goods  or  the  ships  which  seek  the  ocean  from  the 
Danube  or  the  Don,  two  of  the  largest  rivers  of  Europe.  But, 
from  the  first,  such  a  claim  on  the  part  of  Spain  was  dis- 
gusting to  the  settlers  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  From 
the  first  moment  of  the  peace,  for  twenty  years  of  doubtful 
confusion,  these  settlers  had  to  face  the  question  how  they 
should  solve  so  great  a  difficulty. 

The  government  established  by  the  old  Confederacy  was 
powerless  to  help  them.  The  stronger  administration  of 
Washington  saw  the  difficulty,  and  attempted  to  meet  it  with 
some  success.  But  the  King  of  Spain  and  his  ministers 
understood  very  well  that  they  held  the  lion's  position  ;  and 
at  best,  Spanish  diplomacy  is  always  slow.  The  settlers  saw 
little  prospect  of  help  by  peaceful  means.  On  the  other 
hand,  agents  of  the  King  of  Spain  were  not  slow  to  lay  before 
them  the  advantages  which  they  would  obtain  if  they  gave 
up  their  fanciful  allegiance  to  America,  which  could  do  noth- 
ing to  help  them,  and  become  rather  the  favored  subjects  of 
the  king  who  owned  half  the  world,  and  who,  in  this  affair, 
controlled  their  access  to  the  whole  of  it. 

On  the  other  side,  these  frontiersmen  were  approached  by 
other  tempters.  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  whom  we  saw  last  as  he 
bade  good-bye  to  Washington  at  New  York,  was  now,  as  Lord 
Dorchester,  the  English  Governor  of  Canada.  He  was  an 
active  and  intelligent  ruler,  and  kept  himself  well  informed 


JAMES   WILKINSON.  235 

as  to  the  country  from  which  he  had,  very  tardily,  withdrawn 
the  English  garrisons.  He,  on  his  side,  as  the  Spanish  king 
on  his,  approached  the  influential  men  of  the  new  settlements 
by  agents  who  explained  to  them  the  advantages  of  an 
English  connection.  It  was  clear  enough  that  the  St.  Law- 
rance  was  already  under  the  control  of  King  George.  The 
chances  of  war  might  soon  give  to  his  navy  the  command  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  On  his  side,  also,  men  asked 
the  emigrants  in  the  great  valley  to  consider  the  question,  of 
what  worth  was  their  sentimental  enthusiasm  for  the  Atlantic 
States,  which  neglected  or  forgot  them. 

Unfortunately  for  the  American  cause,  for  a  period  which 
covered  much  of  the  twenty  years  of  such  controversy  James 
Wilkinson  was  an  important  representative  of  the  Federal 
government.  He  was  for  many  years  the  officer  highest  in 
command  of  what  was  called  the  u  Legion  of  the  West," 
which  was  that  detachment  of  the  army  which  held  the  posts 
west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Before  this  time  he  had  been  a 
planter  in  Kentucky,  having  gone  there,  as  Greene  had  gone 
to  Georgia,  Pickering  to  Pennsylvania,  and  Knox  to  Maine, 
to  seek  new  fortunes,  at  the  end  of  the  war.  As  early  as  1787, 
Wilkinson  had  sent  tobacco  down  the  river  to  Orleans. 
Even  in  his  early  adventures  there  his  neighbors  suspected 
that  he  had  received  some  special  favors  from  the  Spanish 
Government.  After  he  commanded  the  American  army,  he 
was  once  and  again  tried  by  court-martial,  under  similar  sus- 
picions ;  but  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  acquittals.  Only  in 
the  last  generation  has  an  accident  revealed  the  truth  that 
for  several  years  he  received  a  regular  payment  from  the 
Spanish  Crown,  while  he  affected  to  be  a  loyal  American 
citizen. 

The  Spanish  government  meanwhile  confided  the  abso- 
lute charge  of  the  vast  region  known  as  Louisiana,  to  mili- 
tary officers,  who  were  hampered  by  no  restrictions  but  the 
orders,  not  always  consistent,  which  they  received  from  home. 
Their  dealings  with  the  Americans  of  the  valley  above  them, 
were  wayward,  and  to  the  last  degree  annoying.     Sometimes 


? 


b 


236  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

they  may  have  had  an  excuse  in  orders  from  Spain;  more 
often  they  seemed  to  have  acted  from  panic  fear  of  the 
u  Yankees,"  as  they  called  all  the  settlers,  or  from  the  mere 
willfulness  of  arbitrary  power.  Sudden  changes  in  the  reg- 
ulations were  made,  for  which  no  skill  could  prepare.  Seiz- 
ures of  property,  with  no  reasonable  cause,  insulted  and 
sometimes  ruined  the  men  who  had  sent  it.  Once  and 
again  were  combinations  made  of  these  hardy  backwoods- 
men, who  had  held  their  own  against  all  other  enemies,  and 
who  were  determined  to  sweep  the  whole  Spanish  crew  into 
the  sea.  The  fortifications  of  Orleans  were  contemptible. 
Its  garrison  was  small.  And  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
any  raid,  well  led,  from  the  American  settlers  above, 
would  have  succeeded.  Such  raids  were  prevented  largely 
by  the  eager  counsels  which  might  have  been  called  the 
petitions  of  the  Federal  government,  that  the  settlers  would 
wait  a  little  longer;  partly  by  some  hope  that  the  compli- 
cations in  Europe  would  put  a  new  view  on  affairs,  and 
partly  by  the  terrors  of  the  Spanish  governors  themselves, 
who  would  make  an  unexpected  concession  as  readily  as  they 
made  an  unexpected  demand,  and  sometimes  bought  a  truce 
where  they  had  themselves  incurred  the  danger  of  war. 

When,  in  1797,  the  foreign  relations  of  the  country  made 
war  with  France  imminent,  John  Adams  and  his  cabinet 
determined  to  take  the  occasion  of  such  war  to  settle  the 
Spanish  complication  also.  General  Miranda,  who  had 
already  begun  the  movement  which  ended  in  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  Spanish  colonies  on  the  north  of  South  Amer- 
ica, appeared  in  Philadelphia,  as  he  had  done  in  England, 
to  interest  the  government  in  measures  for  the  assistance 
of  his  insurgent  compatriots.  General  Hamilton,  who  was 
to  hold  high  command  in  the  American  army,  conferred 
with  him,  and  corresponded  with  Wilkinson  in  the  West,  his 
treachery,  of  course,  not  being  then  suspected.  A  plan  was 
agreed  upon  by  which  a  strong  body  of  American  troops 
should  sail  down  the  river  from  Cincinnati.  In  the  enlist- 
ment of  the  new  army   several  regiments  of  recruits  were 


PHILIP   NOLAN.  237 

enlisted  at  once  in  Cincinnati,  and  were  drilled  there  for  a 
war  which  nominally  threatened  France,  but  which  in  fact 
would  have  concerned  Spain. 

All  such  speculations  were  changed  by  the  accession  of 
Napoleon  to  power.  He  became  the  arbiter  of  the  destinies 
of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  as  he  afterward  made  him- 
self the  arbiter  of  the  destinies  of  Europe.  He  brushed 
away  the  complications  which  threatened  war  between  Amer- 
ica and  France.  No  one  in  America  ventured  to  prepare 
an  army  for  the  sake  of  attacking  Spain,  and  for  the 
moment  the  hopes  of  the  backwoodsmen  were  disappointed. 
The  recruits  at  Cincinnati  were  dismissed,  and  the  expedi- 
tion against  Orleans  was  abandoned. 

It  was  in  this  period  of  uncertainty  that  a  young  Kentuck- 
ian,  named  Philip  Nolan,  obtained  some  knowledge  of  Texas. 
He  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  Americans  who  led  adventure 
to  that  State,  unrivaled  in  its  climate  and  resources,  and 
there  he  met  his  fate.  He  had  been  educated  in  Kentucky, 
and  while  yet  a  young  man  had  found  his  way  to  the  settle- 
ments which  were  opening  up  the  American  side  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  at  Natchez.  He  married  a  young  lady  of 
American  family  who  lived  opposite  Natchez,  in  what  was 
then  Spanish  territory.  By  one  and  another  expedition  he 
learned  of  the  abundance  of  horses  which  then  roamed  at 
large  in  the  forests  of  Texas  ;  and  he  made  a  contract  with 
the  Spanish  Government  at  Orleans,  for  supplying  the  garri- 
son with  horses.  To  execute  this  order  the  pass  of  the 
Spanish  governor  was  necessary,  as  Texas,  though  under 
Spanish  jurisdiction,  was  under  the  oversight  of  officers 
appointed  from  Mexico.  The  authorities  at  Orleans  were 
appointed  directly  from  the  crown  at  Madrid.  In  this  busi- 
ness Nolan  obtained  a  knowledge  of  Texas,  and  he  wrote 
to  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  his  request,  some  information  on  the  wild 
horse  of  the  plains,  and  other  matters  of  scientific  interest. 

If  Texas  had  boasted  the  fatal  gift  of  gold,  Spain  would 
have  made  much  of  such  a  province.  As  it  had  nothing  but 
a   climate   well-nigh   perfect,  and   soil  well-nigh  exhaustless, 


238  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Spain  was  indifferent  to  it.  But  once  and  again  Spain  bad 
quarreled  even  with  France  about  it,  jealous  of  as  slight  an 
invasion,  even,  as  the  accidental  settlement  made  by  poor 
La  Salle,  when  he  failed  to  find  the  Mississippi. 

Spain  maintained  a  post  at  San  Antonio,  simply  to  keep 
the  peaceful  Indians  in  awe,  and  to  discourage  depredation. 
On  the  prairies  and  through  the  forests  of  Texas  they  went 
at  their  will.  Different  encroachments  of  the  French  had 
been  resisted;  and  when,  in  1765,  Louisiana  also  had  passed 
under  Spanish  rule,  there  were  hardly  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  persons  of  Spanish  blood  in  all  Texas,  with  perhaps  as 
many  domiciliated  Indians.  Most  of  these  were  at  Adaes 
and  San  Antonio ;  the  rest  were  scattered  at  Nacogdoches, 
Orquisaco,  and  Mound  Prairies.  Between  San  Antonio  and 
Natchez,  the  French  settlement  on  the  Mississippi,  there 
sprang  up  a  trade  for  mutual  convenience.  As  both  prov- 
inces, Texas  and  Louisiana,  were  under  the  Spanish  flag,  it 
seems  absurd  to  call  the  trade  in  any  way  contrabrand  or 
irregular.  But  in  fact,  the  two  provinces  reported  to  differ- 
ent departments  at  Madrid,  and  the  same  forms  were  main- 
tained as  were  in  force  when  they  were  under  two  crowns. 

Nolan  had  been  engaged  in  this  trade,  so  far  that  he  knew 
the  route  from  Natchez  to  San  Antonio.  He  once  or  twice, 
by  special  permit,  supplied  the  Spanish  garrison  at  Orleans 
with  horses  caught  in  Texas.  Nothing  better  illustrates  the 
folly  of  the  colonial  system  of  Spain,  than  that  her  rulers, 
having  horses  which  they  needed  on  their  own  plains,  should 
place  every  obstacle  possible  between  the  men  who  caught 
the  horses,  and  the  soldiers  who  wanted  them  for  their  cav- 
alry and  their  cannon.  On  a  similar  expedition  Nolan  again 
obtained  a  passport,  and  with  five  Spaniards  and  twelve  young 
Americans,  started  to  catch  horses,  in  October,  1800.  Before 
they  started,  the  Spanish  consul  at  Natchez  complained  of 
infraction  of  neutrality,  and  Nolan  was  arrested  by  the  United 
States  authorities.  On  examination,  however,  he  produced 
his  passport,  and  was  permitted  to  go  on.  Forty  miles  west 
of  the  Mississippi  they  met  a  Spanish  patrol,  but  these  sol- 


NOLAN'S   DEATH.  239 

diers  let  them  pass.  After  this,  though  they  had  many 
interviews  with  Caddo  and  Comanche  Indians,  they  met  no 
Spaniards  until  the  22d  of  March,  when  they  were  surprised, 
at  a  point  not  far  distant  from  the  present  town  of  Waco,  by 
one  hundred  and  fifty  Spaniards  sent  out  to  arrest  them. 
Their  outpost  was  surprised  in  the  night,  and  six  sentinels 
taken.  The  twelve  Americans  were  asleep,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing the  Spaniards  wakened  them  by  firing  on  the  log  pen  in 
which  they  were.  Nolan  himself  was  killed  a  few  minutes 
after.  The  others  retreated,  but  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day  surrendered,  promising  to  return  to  their  own 
country  and  cease  to  come  into  Texas. 

This  treaty  was,  however,  soon  broken  by  the  Spaniards. 
The  Americans,  as  the  Mexicans  call  the  men  of  the 
United  States,  were  put  in  irons,  and  taken  first  to  San 
Antonio,  and  then  to  Chihuahua.  Here  they  remained  until 
1808,  when,  after  years  of  correspondence,  a  final  order 
was  obtained  from  Madrid  as  to  their  fate.  The  order  was 
given  that  every  fifth  man  should  be  shot,  the  choice  to  be 
made  by  lot.  There  were  nine  left,  and  the  order  was  so 
mercifully  interpreted  that  but  one  was  killed.  The  victim 
was  shot  in  the  presence  of  the  others.  Of  these,  five  were 
taken  to  Mexico  in  irons. 

Such  was  the  treatment  which  the  Spanish  court  measured 
out  to  men  who  were  hunting  in  their  own  territory,  with  a 
pass  from  one  of  their  own  officers.  It  is  not  wonderful 
that  Bean,  the  commander  of  these  prisoners,  became  a  pa- 
triot officer  afterward  in  the  Mexican  revolution. 

To  complete  the  story  of  these  unfortunate  men  we  have 
anticipated  the  course  of  events  in  the  country  from  which 
they  were  thus  exiled.  While  they  were  prisoners  in  Texas 
the  whole  province  of  Louisiana  had  passed  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  United  States. 

The  accession  of  Napoleon  to  power  in  Europe  brought  a 
short  truce,  known  as  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  into  the  European 
war.  As  early  as  October,  in  1800,  the  weak  government  of 
Spain  had  been  compelled  to  give  Louisiana  back  to  France 


-£ 


240  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

by  a  secret  treaty.  This  was  only  publicly  acknowledged, 
however,  in  1802.  When,  in  1803,  Napoleon  found  that  war 
was  again  inevitable,  he  sent  for  the  American  envoys  in  Paris 
and  offered  to  them,  at  a  low  price,  the  whole  territory.  They 
had  instructions  to  buy  Orleans  and  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
Napoleon  offered  them  the  whole.  They  were  amazed,  and 
well  they  might  have  been,  at  the  grandeur  of  the  offer. 
There  was  no  time  to  obtain  orders  from  home.  So  soon  as 
war  was  declared  England  could  and  would  seize  the  mouth 
of  the  river.  They  made  the  great  purchase,  assuming  the 
responsibility.  For  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  Napoleon  sold 
them,  not  Orleans  only,  as  they  asked,  but  the  empire  between 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Mississippi,  as  far  to  the  north- 
ward as  the  Mississippi  flowed.  If  France  had  any  rights  to 
Texas,  as  the  United  States  afterward  claimed,  he  sold  them. 
If  Louisiana  could  be  made  to  extend  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  the  sea,  he  sold  this  right  also. 

Robert  Livingston,  one  of  the  wisest  of  our  statesmen,  was 
in  Paris,  and  concluded  the  great  negotiation  which  enables 
the  United  States  to-day  to  send  food  over  the  world.  So 
little  did  he  know  the  greatness  of  what  he  did,  that  he  wrote 
home  :  "I  have  told  them  that  we  should  not  send  a  settler 
across  the  Mississippi  for  one  hundred  years."  This  was  in 
1803.  He  encouraged  Mr.  Jefferson,  whose  timidity  he  feared, 
by  telling  him  that  he  had  already  arranged  with  buyers  who 
would  leave  to  America,  Orleans  and  the  river's  mouth,  and 
take  all  the  rest  of  the  purchase  "  off  our  hands"  by  repaying 
the  fifteen  millions. 

Napoleon  understood  what  he  had  done,  better  than  Liv- 
ingston did.  When  Marbois,  his  minister,  reported  to  him 
that  the  treaty  was  complete,  he  said  : 

"  I  have  given  England  her  rival." 

A  war  of  parties,  and  a  jealousy  between  East  and  West, 
threw  some  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  confirmation  of  the 
treaty  by  which  Louisiana  was  purchased.  All  the  vast  ter- 
ritory west  of  the  Mississippi  was  thus  called.  It  was  then 
arranged  that  a  State  should  be  made  of  the  region  around 


LEWIS   AND    CLARK.  24 1 

Orleans,  and  the  French  settlements.  The  rest  was  wholly 
unsettled,  excepting  a  few  French  posts  and  a  little  settle- 
ment at  New  Madrid,  in  Missouri. 

Mr.  Jefferson,  delighted  with  his  success,  at  once  fitted  out 
a  party  of  soldiers  to  explore  the  Missouri  River,  and  find,  if 
they  could,  an  access  to  the  sea  by  the  Columbia.  This  party 
left  St.  Louis  in  the  month  of  March,  1804,  under  Captain 
Meriwether  Lewis  and  Captain  William  Clark.  They  re- 
turned with  the  news  of  their  own  success,  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  in  1807.  They  were  the  first  white  men  who  are  known 
to  have  crossed  from  ocean  to  ocean,  within  the  present  limits 
of  the  United  States,  from  the  time  of  the  wretched  Spanish 
slaves  to  whose  story  we  owe  the  expedition  of  Coronado  in 
1546,  and  afterward  the  establishment  of  Santa  Fe.  Mean- 
while the  rapid  progress  of  emigration  westward  was  building 
towns  which  became  cities,  and  was  creating  States.  In 
rapid  succession  Ohio  and  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Alabama,  and  Mississippi  were  added  to  the  Union.  It  was 
now  that  the  great  invention  by  Fulton,  of  an  easy  and  simple 
method  of  propelling  vessels  by  steam,  changed  all  the  aspects 
of  western  settlement  and  of  American  history. 
11 


242  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
The  Federal   Constitution. 

Difficulties  of  the  Confederacy.— Need  of  Stronger  Government. — Western 
Lands. — State  Constitutions. — A  Convention  Called. — Federal  Con- 
stitution. 

IN  speaking  of  the  development  of  the  West  we  have  re- 
ferred to  the  government  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  to 
the  administrations  of  Washington,  Adams,  and  Jefferson.  Our 
narrative  now  returns  to  the  formation  of  the  Constitution, 
and  to  the  circumstances  of  these  three  "  administrations." 

From  the  time  when  the  army  disbanded,  for  four  years,  till 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  the  country  passed 
through  a  critical  period,  difficult  to  describe  because,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  events  went  forward  almost  without 
law.  To  merchants  and  men  of  business  these  were  disas- 
trous years.  If  their  business  were  in  different  States,  they 
found  in  one  a  currency  which  would  not  pass  in  another. 
Each  State  had  its  own  paper  issues,  and  some  had  begun  to 
coin  their  own  money.  If  the  dealings  of  merchants  were 
with  Europe,  they  met  the  difficulty  that  the  nation  had 
scarcely  any  commercial  treaties.  Each  State  had  its  own  cus- 
tom-houses, and  its  own  rates  of  duties.  Goods  which  arrived 
at  New  York  paid  a  duty  different  from  those  which  arrived  at 
New  London,  and  these  again  a  duty  different  from  that  at 
Newport,  as  this  differed  in  turn  from  that  at  Boston.  Nor 
were  the  differences  as  to  customs  the  only  differences  be- 
tween the  States.  The  nearer  States  were  to  each  other 
the  more  difficulties  arose ;  and  it  was  a  local  question, 
regarding  the  fisheries  of  the  Potomac  and  Chesapeake,  which 
led  to  the  meeting  which  issued  the  call  for  the  Convention 
that  made  the  Federal  Constitution  of  to-day. 


WESTERN   DOMAIN.  243 

Congress  found  it  difficult  to  maintain  a  quorum  of  States, 
yet  no  act  of  Congress  had  even  a  nominal  authority  unless  a 
majority  of  all  the  States  had  agreed  to  it.  Indeed,  it  was 
difficult  to  persuade  the  best  men  in  the  States  to  take  the 
thankless  duty  involved  in  a  seat  in  Congress.  The  States 
made  their  delegations  smaller,  for  the  largest  delegation 
gave  but  one  vote.  The  allowances  made  for  attendance 
were  insignificant  and  inefficient.  As  a  consequence,  though 
some  of  the  best  men  in  the  nation  attended  in  turn  as  a 
sort  of  patriotic  duty,  no  man  attended  for  a  long  period. 

Yet  Congress  had  in  hand  matters  of  the  very  first  impor- 
tance. They  ill  brooked  delay;  but,  to  the  misfortune  of  the 
country,  delay  was  sometimes  inevitable. 

First  of  all,  as  it  has  proved,  in  importance,  was  the  system 
to  be  adopted  in  treating  the  immense  national  domain  of 
lands  unsettled.  The  dominion  of  what  were  familiarly  called 
Western  Lands  had  gradually  been  ceded  to  Congress  by  the 
States  which  held  them  under  their  charters.  This  cession 
was  in  itself  an  act  of  high  patriotism  which  shows  how  the 
national  idea  began  to  gain,  in  mere  petty  colonial  or  provin- 
cial politics.  The  claims  of  the  seaboard  States,  under  their 
charters,  were  in  some  cases  in  conflict  with  each  other. 
Massachusetts  had  a  grant  of  a  strip  from  ocean  to  ocean 
as  wide  as  her  territory  on  the  Atlantic.  Connecticut  had  a 
grant  somewhat  similar.  New  York  had  a  claim  vast  in  extent 
and  undefined. 

Settlers  from  Virginia  had  already  taken  possession  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  from  North  Carolina  men  had  gone  into  Ten- 
nessee. However  their  problem  of  government  was  to  be 
solved,  it  was  a  different  problem  from  that  of  the  North- 
west, as  men  began  to  call  the  region  west  of  Pennsylvania 
and  north  of  the  Ohio.  The  reader  must  remember  that  the 
nation,  by  treaty,  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Mississippi. 
For  the  north-western  territory  different  plans  were  proposed, 
which  finally  took  form  in  the  ordinance  of  1787.  This  or- 
dinance, drawn  by  Nathan  Dane,  of  Massachusetts,  included 
an  article  prepared  by  Jefferson,  in  an  earlier  draft,  and  forever 


244  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

excluded  human  slavery  from  the  territory  or  from  the  States 
to  be  drawn  from  it. 

The  policy  of  Congress  with  regard  to  the  sale  of  these  lands 
varied.  It  granted  considerable  tracts,  as  military  grants,  to 
officers  or  soldiers  of  the  army  who  were  willing  to  take  such 
payment  for  their  services.  It  was  always  open  to  proposals 
from  speculators.  Congress  was  sadly  in  want  of  money,  and 
an  offer  of  money  from  some  land  speculator,  who  could  really 
pay  it,  would  tempt  Congress  to  almost  any  sale.  But  Con- 
gress and  speculators  were  beginning  to  learn  the  lesson,  which 
the  princes  and  statesmen  of  Europe  learn  so  slowly,  that  land 
is  of  no  more  value  than  water,  unless  men  and  women  in- 
habit it,  or  want  it.  The  companies  found  it  harder  to  obtain 
settlers  than  to  obtain  land.  If  the  government  could  have 
protected  settlers  in  the  West  against  the  formidable  Indian 
tribes  it  would  have  the  better  reason  for  fixing  the  price  for 
the  land  it  sold  to  them.  But  the  army  which  Congress  had 
kept  after  the  treaty  of  peace  was  but  a  handful  of  men,  and 
it  was  clear  enough  that  the  settlers  in  the  North-west  must 
rely  chiefly  on  their  own  protection  against  savages,  as  the 
settlers  in  Kentucky  had  done  before  them. 

Companies  were  formed  of  men  who  moved  together  and 
supported  each  other.  Manasseh  Cutler,  a  minister  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, formed  such  a  company,  and  obtained  a  grant  in 
south-eastern  Ohio,  where  they  planted  the  settlement  of  Mari- 
etta, named  in  honor  of  Marie  Antoinette.  The  State  of 
Connecticut  had  reserved  a  considerable  tract  on  Lake  Erie, 
which  is  still  known  as  the  "  Western  Reserve."  This  region 
was  mostly  filled  by  men  and  women  from  Connecticut.  The 
movement  westward  attracted  men  in  every  eastern  State,  and 
while  the  leaders  in  society,  almost  without  exception,  frowned 
on  the  emigration,  and  even  prophesied  ruin  to  the  country 
from  its  effect  on  the  Atlantic  States,  the  people  of  America, 
which  has  always  been  wiser  than  its  governors,  understood  the 
present  and  the  future,  and  used  the  virgin  soil  of  the  West  just 
so  far  as  it  was  useful  to  it.  The  settlers  asked  no  help;  they 
prepared  to  defend  themselves;  and  so  new  States  were  created. 


EMIGRATION.  245 

Massachusetts  made  liberal  grants  in  Maine  to  her  soldiers. 
The  counties  of  Knox  and  Lincoln  retain  the  names  of  the 
generals  who  established  themselves  there,  with  some  follow- 
ing of  the  men  they  had  commanded.  The  fertile  valleys  of 
Vermont,  which  established  itself  as  a  State,  received  enthu- 
siastic settlers  from  the  older  States  of  New  England.  New 
York  made  large  grants  to  foreign  purchasers  within  her  west- 
ern domains,  themselves  as  large  as  many  a  European  princi- 
pality. In  Pennsylvania  the  climate  was  tempting  to  men 
from  Europe,  and  that  State,  more  than  any  other,  still  pre- 
serves the  traditions  of  new  Outopias,  founded  by  one  and 
another  school  of  religion  or  politics,  each  of  which  was  to 
be  an  example  of  reconstructed  society.  Such  a  dream, 
now  attempted,  was  the  "  pantisocracy"  which  Coleridge  and 
Southey  proposed  on  the  Susquehanna,  and  in  such  colonies 
Talleyrand,  and  Volney,  and  Chateaubriand  had  some  of 
their  early  experiences.  General  Pickering  took  his  family 
from  Massachusetts  to  Wyoming  in  a  colony  which  was  to 
build  up  the  deserted  ruins  left  by  the  massacre  commanded 
by  Butler. 

In  Virginia,  Washington  himself  used  his  great  influence  in 
improving  the  water  communication  with  the  valley  of  the 
Ohio.  He  attempted  again  the  enterprises,  of  which  his  boy- 
hood saw  the  beginning,  for  introducing  emigration  beyond 
the  Alleghany  Mountains.  In  his  large  correspondence  with 
Europe,  the  subject  of  European  emigration  was  often  alluded 
to.  But  though  several  religious  communities  and  many  men 
of  education  crossed  the  ocean  to  America,  led  largely  by  the 
attractions  of  the  new  dreams  of  a  new  social  order,  there 
was  no  such  wave  of  westward  emigration  as  has  distinguished 
the  last  forty  years.  That  belonged  to  commercial  conditions 
which  did  not  yet  exist.  From  North  Carolina,  settlers  had 
already  crossed  the  mountain,  who  formed  the  State,  already 
independent,  which  we  call  Tennessee.  Its  early  history  has 
been  told  already  in  another  chapter. 

The  rapid  development  of  the  physical  resources  of  the 
country  was  seriously  arrested  by  the  inability  of  the  Conti- 


246  HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

nental  Congress  to  carry  out  any  national  policy.  It  at- 
tempted to  cope  with  the  financial  difficulty,  by  persuading 
the  maritime  States  to  agree  on  one  impost,  the  same  for  all. 
But,  first,  Congress  found  it  hard  to  agree  itself;  second,  it 
found  itself  impotent  to  persuade.  Meanwhile,  however,  men 
of  affairs,  men  who  had  traveled  abroad,  and  men  who  had 
served  in  the  army,  knew  that  these  thirteen  States,  almost  at 
war  with  each  other  in  their  jarring  policies,  might  be  a  na- 
tion. Such  men  knew  that  the  time  might  come  when  the 
"  United  States"  should  be  spoken  of  in  the  singular  number. 
Every  failure  in  the  unsystematic  course  of  four  years  of  na- 
tional conflict  was  dwelt  on  by  such  men,  and,  at  the  end 
of  four  wretched  years,  even  the  large  body  of  the  people, 
who  at  first,  perhaps,  were  indifferent  to  the  hopes  for  a  na- 
tional unity,  felt  that  some  effort  for  it  must  be  made. 

It  is  now  interesting  to  see  that  the  first  practical  measure 
in  this  direction  was  led  by  Washington  himself.  The  diffi- 
culties which  have  been  alluded  to,  as  to  the  navigation  and 
fisheries  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Chesapeake,  became  so  seri- 
ous as  to  require  the  attention  of  the  governments  of  the 
States  adjoining  those  waters.  A  commission  was  appointed 
by  Virginia  to  meet  a  similar  commission  from  Maryland. 
Of  this  commission  Washington  was  the  chief.  Indeed,  in 
his  own  home,  at  Mt.  Vernon,  he  was  almost  the  eye-witness 
of  the  controversies  involved.  This  commission,  fortunately 
for  the  United  States  and  for  mankind,  did  not  satisfy  itself 
with  the  attempt  to  adjust  a  local  quarrel.  Clearly  enough, 
indeed,  the  local  quarrel  could  not  be  adjusted  without  refer- 
ence to  the  rights  of  navigators  and  fishermen  from  other 
States.  Before  its  adjournment  it  recommended  a  convention 
of  all  the  States,  to  consider  the  possibilities  and  the  methods 
of  a  closer  union  and  of  a  stronger  national  government. 
Washington,  and  other  men  who  saw  the  need  of  such  a  gov- 
ernment, used  all  their  power  in  their  own  and  other  States 
to  secure  such  a  convention.  They  obtained,  with  some 
difficulty,  a  vote  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation,  al- 
ready dying,  to  give  to  it  such  poor  authority  as  that  body 


STATE    GOVERNMENTS.  247 

had.  And  at  last,  delegates  from  twelve  States,  more  than  the 
number  proposed  in  the  call  to  give  validity  to  its  proceed- 
ings, met  in  Philadelphia  on  the  25th  of  May,  1787. 

Mr.  Gladstone  says:  "  The  American  Constitution  is,  so 
far  as  I  can  see,  the  most  wonderful  work  ever  struck  off  at  a 
given  time  by  the  brain  and  purpose  of  man." 

Before  we  record  its  work,  however,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
state  briefly  what  progress  the  different  States  had  made  in 
the  work  of  establishing  governments  for  themselves. 

At  the  instance  of  Massachusetts,  the  Continental  Congress, 
even  before  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  had  recom- 
mended and  authorized  the  several  colonies  to  take  steps  for 
the  proper  ordering  of  their  civil  government.  The  Massa- 
chusetts statesmen  were  very  desirous  that  this  recommenda- 
tion should  be  as  strong  as  possible  ;  that  is,  that  it  should 
claim  as  much  power  as  Congress  would  venture  to  claim. 
For  they  were  very  desirous  that  the  people  of  a  State  should 
not  feel,  whenever  uneasy,  that  they  could  unmake  the  gov- 
ernment they  had  made. 

Acting  under  this  request  or  authority,  the  several  States, 
so  soon  as  their  royal  governors  fled  from  them,  established 
constitutions  of  government  generally  after  one  model.  A 
short  letter  written  by  John  Adams,  in  1776,  furnished  the 
principles  of  almost  all  these  constitutions,  and  they  have 
served  as  the  basis  of  all  the  American  constitutions  ever 
since  ;  and,  indeed,  of  the  written  constitutions  of  Spanish 
America  and  of  Europe,  made  since  then.  Resting  on  the 
distinctions  carefully  drawn  by  Montesquieu,  in  a  book  then 
recent,  between  the  executive,  the  legislative  and  the  judicial 
authority,  Mr.  Adams's  suggestions  provided  for  a  radical 
and  almost  complete  separation  between  the  men  who  had  in 
hand  these  functions  of  government.  So  far  as  possible, 
they  were  to  be  independent  of  each  other.  The  men  who 
made  laws  were  not  to  execute  them,  nor  were  they  to  try  the 
criminals  who  broke  them.  Further  than  this,  Mr.  Adams's 
scheme  provided  for  a  division  of  the  legislative  power  so 
that  it  should  be  held  by  two  houses.     This  division  had  for 


"7, 


248  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

authority  the  well-known  and  successful  division  between  the 
House  of  Lords  and  the  House  of  Commons  in  England. 
What  would  be  quite  as  important  in  Mr.  Adams's  mind,  as  it 
should  have  been,  was  the  successful  arrangement  for  legis- 
lative powers  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  in  most 
of  the  other  colonies,  of  a  House  of  Delegates  representing 
the  people,  acting  with  a  smaller  council  of  persons  more 
closely  connected  with  the  executive.  In  Massachusetts  this 
council  was  named  "  at  large,"  as  we  now  say,  with  no  neces- 
sary reference  to  the  residence  of  the  members.  It  was  also 
a  fit  representation  of  the  men  of  property  of  the  colony. 

From  new-born  States,  most  of  whom  had  such  constitu- 
tions, the  new  convention  met.  Some  of  the  States  had  varied 
from  the  general  type,  in  their  constitutions.  Thus  in  Penn- 
sylvania, in  obedience,  probably,  to  a  favorite  opinion  of 
Franklin's,  there  was  at  that  time  but  one  legislative  body. 
In  general,  the  people  had  had  the  experience  for  a  few 
years  of  their  new  constitutions.  And  in  all  instances,  as  the 
reader  knows,  there  had  been  some  local  government  from 
an  early  period  in  the  colonial  history. 

All  these  States  had  exercised  sovereign  power.  This 
power  had  been  conceded  since  1783  ;  it  had  been  claimed 
and  generally  had  existed  since  1776.  The  new  Convention, 
then,  had  before  it  two  difficult  tasks — first,  of  separating  na- 
tional powers  in  government  from  local  powers,  and  then  of 
persuading  or  compelling  the  thirteen  States,  if  it  could,  to 
accept  its  theory  of  separation,  and  to  concede  to  the  central 
government  the  powers  needed  for  national  administration. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  duty  of  the  Convention  was 
thus  clearly  apprehended  by  most  of  the  people  who  united 
willingly  enough  in  the  choice  of  the  members.  But  the 
members  themselves  proved  to  understand  it  much  better 
than  some  of  the  leaders  of  opinion  had  feared,  for  the  law 
of  selection  had  done  its  work.  Men  who  did  not  want  a 
strong  national  government  had  not  come  to  the  Convention. 
They  had  distrusted  it,  and,  generally  speaking,  had  kept 
away  from  it.      Generally  speaking,  the   men  who   had  come 


FEDERAL   CONSTITUTION.  249 

were  men  who  believed  that  there  should  be  a  nation,  and 
that  that  nation  should  have  the  powers  of  a  nation. 

In  answering  the  great  question  which  had  till  then  never 
been  put,  far  less  answered,  "What  are  national  duties,  as 
distinct  from  those  of  local  government  ?  "  the  Convention 
made  these  decisions  : 

The  nation  is  to  take  charge  of  all  foreign  relations  with 
civilized  nations  or  savages. 

It  insures  peace  and  republican  government  to  the  con- 
stituent States. 

It  regulates  commerce  between  them,  their  currency  and 
their  mails. 

It  secures  equal  justice  between  citizens  of  different  States, 
and  each  citizen  has  the  same  rights  as  another  in  all  parts 
of  the  nation." 

For  the  rest,  each  State  provides  for  its  citizens  or  the  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  within  its  own  borders.  Their  rights, 
their  health,  their  education,  their  roads,  their  religion,  are  its 
concern.  No  other  State  can  interfere  in  its  arrangements 
for  these,  nor  can  the  United  States.  But,  by  some  great 
exceptions  from  this  theory,  the  Constitution  provided  that 
there  should  be  no  State  religion  in  any  State  and  no  order  of 
nobility.  The  people  who  made  it  had  determined  that  the 
governments  should  be  republican,  and  they  acted  on  the 
principle  that  a  religious  hierarchy  or  a  political  aristocracy 
would  break  up  republican   government. 

In  the  Convention  less  difficulty  was  found,  probably,  than 
had  been  feared,  as  to  the  possibility  of  making  a  strong 
central  government.  Two  difficulties  did  present  themselves 
of  a  most  serious  character.  The  one  was  the  jealousy  on 
the  part  of  the  small  States  of  the  possible  tyranny  of  the 
larger.  Men  remembered  that  in  the  German  empire  the 
House  of  Austria  had  arrogated  all  the  imperial  powers  for 
more  than  two  centuries.  The  other  was  the  jealousy  be- 
tween the  commercial  States  of  the  north  and  the  Southern 
States,  which  were  mostly  agricultural.  The  Northern 
States  were  indifferent  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  The 
11* 


250  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Southern  States  conceived  it  necessary  for  their  prosperity. 
Should  Negro  slaves,  who  gave  no  votes,  be  counted  as  if 
they  were  citizens  who  voted  ?  This  question  was  one  which 
presented  itself  in  every  decision  as  to  the  fundamental 
bases  of  the  Constitution. 

The  decision  of  the  first  of  these  questions  was  arrived  at 
gradually,  as  the  different  sections  of  the  Convention  felt 
their  power.  It  continued  in  existence,  practically,  the  old 
Confederate  Congress  in  the  Senate.  But  each  State  was 
now  restricted  to  sending  two  delegates  to  the  Senate,  and 
these  delegates,  if  they  chose,  might  neutralize  the  vote  of  the 
State  by  voting  in  opposition  to  each  other.  In  the  election 
of  President,  also,  a  small  State  was  to  have  a  larger  pro- 
portional power  than  a  large  one,  for  each  State,  however  small 
its  population,  had  at  least  three  electors  of  a  President.  The 
arrangement  thus  made  put  an  end,  forever,  to  all  jealousy 
between  large  States  and  small,  and  none  has  ever  appeared 
in  American  politics. 

The  questions  in  regard  to  slavery,  were  adjusted  by  com- 
promises which  were  not  so  fortunate.  But,  until  the  year 
1820,  they  gave  a  sufficiently  easy  method  of  living  in  com- 
mon, to  admit  of  political  action  on  subjects  not  closely 
connected  with  slavery.  It  was  agreed  that  in  assessing  na- 
tional taxes,  levied  on  the  States  by  the  nation,  only  three 
fifths  of  the  assessed  value  of  Negro  slaves  should  be  taxed. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  estimate  of  population  for  the 
return  of  members  of  Congress,  or  in  the  choice  of  the 
President,  only  three  fifths  of  their  number  should  be  counted. 
Congress  was  not  to  have  power  to  suppress  the  African  slave 
trade  for  twenty  years.  This  consideration  was  thought 
necessary,  that  the  newer  States  toward  the  south  might  re- 
ceive a  proper  share  of  laborers.  It  proved  of  more  impor- 
tance than  was  supposed. 

After  eager,  and  sometimes  bitter,  discussions,  which  took 
place  in  closed  doors,  without  the  presence  of  general  spec- 
tators, the  Constitution  was  made  public.  It  provided  for  its 
own  amendment  by  articles  which  two  thirds  of  the   legis- 


CONSTITUTION   ADOPTED.  25 1 

latures  of  the  States  approved.  But  it  did  not  propose  to 
take  its  authority  from  the  legislatures.  A  very  important 
claim  in  the  theory  of  the  men  who  made  it,  was,  that  it  was 
the  work  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  It  begins  with 
the  words,  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

It  was  to  be  accepted,  if  at  all,  by  conventions  of  the  peo- 
ple in  at  least  nine  States.  From  September  17,  1787,  when 
the  members  of  the  Convention  signed  it,  until  late  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1788,  was  a  period  of  great  anxiety  and  intense  in- 
terest. In  almost  every  State  an  opposition  to  it  appeared. 
Merely  local  politicians  almost  inevitably,  from  the  law  of 
their  being,  opposed  it.  Pure  theorists  could  then,  as  they  can 
now,  find  many  points  where  it  is  open  to  attack.  In  differ- 
ent States  the  opposition  took  different  grounds.  It  may,  per- 
haps, be  said,  that  the  small  States  voted  for  it  more  cordially, 
because  it  gave  them  much  more  than  their  shares,  if  the  de- 
cision went  by  a  democratic  appeal  to  numbers.  In  the  large 
States,  as  it  happened,  of  New  York,  Massachusetts,  Penn- 
sylvania and  Virginia,  the  opposition  was  most  bitter.  This 
was,  perhaps,  from  the  underlying  feeling  in  these  States  each 
that  it  could  stand  by  itself.  A  happy  suggestion  in  Massa- 
chusetts gave  an  excuse  for  the  more  moderate  of  the  oppo- 
sition to  acquiesce  in  its  trial,  so  to  speak,  as  an  experiment. 
It  was  suggested  that  ten  amendments,  to  be  accepted  as  soon 
as  possible,  should  be  drawn,  which  might  serve  as  a  sort  of 
"  Bill  of  Rights,"  guarding  the  endangered  powers  of  the 
States.  These  ten  amendments  were  drawn,  and,  as  proposed, 
were  adopted,  and  have  since  proved  not  unimportant  parts  of 
the  instrument.  With  these  amendments,  which  underwent 
a  new  handling  in  Virginia,  it  was  assented  to  in  these  two 
States,  then  the  largest  in  the  nation.  One  State  more  was 
necessary.  The  friends  of  union  in  the  South  rejoiced  when 
they  heard  that  North  Carolina  had  made  the  Union  a  cer- 
tainty. In  the  North  a  like  joy  was  felt  at  the  accession  of 
New  Hampshire,  while  the  decision  of  North  Carolina  was 
not  known.  The  news  from  the  North  met  that  from  the 
South  in  Baltimore.     With  great  joy  the   acceptance   of  the 


252  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

Constitution,  which  was  the  real  birth  of  the  nation,  was 
made  sure.  John  Adams,  who  was  in  England  when  it  was 
made,  wrote  to  an  English  friend  when  it  was  accepted  :  "We 
have  made  a  Constitution  which  Avili  keep  us  from  cutting 
each  other's  throats  for  a  few  years  longer." 

The  arrangements  for  the  first  election  were  made  at  once. 
It  took  place  in  November,  1788.  The  electors,  of  course, 
chose  George  Washington  as  the  first  President  of  the  na- 
tion.    For  the  Vice-Presidency,  their  votes  were  divided. 

At  that  time  no  popular  nominations  were  formally  made 
for  these  posts.  There  was  a  certain  measure  of  doubt  on 
whom  the  second  choice  would  fall,  until  the  electoral  col- 
leges met  and  made  their  decision.  It  then  appeared  that 
Washington  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  electors.  He 
had  69  electoral  votes ;  Adams  had  34 ;  next  to  him 
was  Jay,  of  New  York,  who  had  9.  At  the  election  four 
years  afterward,  Washington  had  132  votes,  and  Adams,  77  ; 
George  Clinton,  of  New  York,  had  50,  and  Jefferson,  4. 

Some  form  of  national  government  was  necessary,  and  this 
a  strong  and  popular  /orm.  But  the  People  of  America  is, 
as  Mr.  Garfield  well  said,  always  wiser  than  any  one  man  of 
the  people.  The  People  was  working  out  the  steps  by  which 
the  future  fortunes  of  America  were  to  be  guided,  without 
the  least  assistance  or  direction  from  the  men  who  supposed 
they  were  the  leaders  of  the  country.  Such  has  been  the 
great  lesson  of  the  history  of  the  first  hundred  years  of  the 
United  States.  While  its  people  always  take  an  intense  in- 
terest in  political  discussions,  its  real  progress  and  prosperity 
go  forward,  in  a  certain  sense,  independent  of  political  dis- 
cussion. They  have  often  been  thwarted  by  the  ignorance 
or  timidity  of  men  who  had  political  power;  but  the  sug- 
gestions of  advance  and  the  real  improvements  have  come 
from  men  who  are  supposed  to  be  private  men,  and  thought 
so  themselves. 


WASHINGTON  S   CABINET.  253 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Washington's  .Presidency. 

Inauguration — Cabinet — First  and  Second  Congresses — Hamilton's  Plans 
— Jefferson's  and  Randolph's — The  War  Department — St.  Clair 
and  Wayne — Foreign  Politics— Genet  in  America — England  and 
America — Jay's  Treaty — Ratification  of  Treaties. 

THE  inauguration  of  the  new  President  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  new  government  were  fixed  to  take  place 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1789,  if  a  quorum  of  the  new  Congress 
then  assembled.  It  is,  however,  a  curious  illustration  of  the 
indifference  of  the  country  to  matters  in  which  it  now  takes 
interest  so  intense,  that  it  was  the  end  of  April  before  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  the  Senate  and  the  House  assembled  for 
the  purposes  of  the  formal  inauguration.  The  inauguration 
took  place  in  the  city  of  New  York,  where  the  Convention 
had  arranged  that  the  government  should  go  into  operation. 
Congress  met  immediately,  and  so  soon  as  the  several  secre- 
taries were  appointed  to  the  departments  of  War,  of  the 
Treasury  and  of  State,  frequent  communication  between  the 
Executive  and  Congress  began.  Jefferson  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Department  of  State,  Hamilton  at  the  head  of  the  Treas- 
ury, Knox  was  Secretary  of  War,  and  Randolph,  of  Virginia, 
Attorney  General.  These  four  made  the  first  Cabinet.  It 
was  only  afterward  that  the  Department  of  the  Navy  was 
separated  from  that  of  War,  and  the  Department  of  the 
Interior  from  that  of  State. 

The  first  and  second  Congresses,  those  which  served  dur- 
ing Washington's  first  term,  did  an  amount  of  work  for  the 
nation  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  describe  within  the 
pages  of  this  history.  First  of  all  in  its  importance  was  the 
funding  of  the  national  debt,  which  was  done  under  the  skill- 


254  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

ful  directions  of  Hamilton.  He  had  shown  courage  and 
resource  in  the  field,  and  it  is  clear  that,  whatever  fame  he 
acquired  in  the  Cabinet,  to  the  end  of  his  life  he  looked  upon 
himself  as  a  soldier.  He  had,  however,  been  trained  early 
to  mercantile  affairs.  He  was  a  lawyer  in  good  practice  in 
the  city  of  New  York  ;  and  he  brought  to  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Treasury  Department  certain  distinct  principles 
which  gave  to  that  administration  great  success.  "  He 
caught  the  drowning  credit  of  America  by  the  locks,  and 
dragged  it  into  life."  The  plans  which  Hamilton  made  for 
funding  the  debt,  and  for  a  regular  income  to  be  derived 
from  foreign  customs,  met  at  the  time  with  terrible  opposi- 
tion, as  he  met  with  terrible  obloquy.  There  were  in  New 
York  enough  stock-jobbers  already,  willing  to  make  money 
on  every  improvement  in  the  national  credit,  for  men  easily 
to  charge  motives  of  fraud  upon  every  person  who  voted  to 
improve  the  credit  of  the  government.  All  the  charges 
made  against  such  men  have  long  since  been  forgotten,  and 
this  is  not  the  place  to  renew  them.  It  may  be  remembered, 
however,  as  a  warning  to  the  politicians  of  this  day,  that,  to 
establish  the  credit  of  America  upon  that  firm  basis  of  which 
all  Americans  are  so  proud,  every  man  who  voted  for  the 
measures  which  were  taken  had  to  pass  through  a  daily  fire 
of  accusations  of  treason. 

The  arrangements  for  the  Judiciary,  made  under  the 
direction  of  Randolph  and  of  Jefferson,  have  proved  to  be 
equally  wise.  They  have  been  enlarged  often  between  that 
period  and  this,  but  the  execution  of  law,  as  far  as  it  falls  to 
national  tribunals,  is  now  substantially  the  same  as  it  was  at 
the  beginning. 

The  War  Department  had  to  consider  difficult  questions 
with  the  drawback  of  great  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  whole 
country  to  any  large  establishment.  Its  first  experiment  was 
singularly  unsuccessful.  In  1791  the  condition  of  affairs  at 
the  west  was  such  as  to  make  it  necessary  that  the  nation 
should  assert  itself.  St.  Clair,  who  had  served  in  the  Revo- 
lution, was  sent  into  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  at  the  head  of  a 


j 


ANTHONY   WAYNE.  255 

force  supposed  to  be  sufficient  to  suppress  the  Indians.  In 
point  of  fact  he  was  surprised,  half  his  army  was  killed,  and 
the  rest  fled,  St.  Clair  not  the  last  of  the  fugitives.  The 
whole  loss  amounted  to  six  hundred  and  seventy-seven  who 
were  killed,  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  who  were 
wounded.  The  campaign  was  ended  for  that  year.  Anthony 
Wayne  was  then  appointed  to  succeed  St.  Clair.  He  was 
the  "  Mad  Anthony  "  of  the  Revolution  who  stormed  Stony 
Point  so  successfully.  In  the  spring  of  1794,  he  led  a 
second  expedition  with  judgment  and  prudence,  which  has 
ever  since  acquitted  him  of  the  charge  of  madness.  The 
result  was  a  complete  defeat  of  the  Indians  on  the  Miami, 
which  proved  decisive.  From  that  time  to  this  those  strong 
tribes  have  never  seriously  injured  the  settlers  among  them. 
Wayne  made  a  treaty  with  them  on  the  7th  of  August,  1795, 
and  returned  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people  almost  in 
a  triumphal  entry. 

Foreign  politics  took  a  much  larger  place  in  the  discus- 
sions of  Congress  and  of  the  executive  than  is  granted  to 
them  in  our  times.  The  whole  condition  of  Europe  was  dis- 
orderly. The  French  republicans  had  killed  their  king  in 
1793,  and  the  queen's  death  followed.  The  war  with  all 
continental  Europe  and  England  followed,  which  wholly 
deranged  the  commerce  of  Europe,  and,  almost  of  necessity, 
involved  neutral  states  in  controversy.  With  France  the 
United  States  was  closely  bound.  As  the  reader  knows,  the 
treaties  of  America  with  France  in  the  Revolution  were 
offensive  and  defensive.  America  was  bound  to  sustain  the 
quarrel  of  France  against  any  foreign  enemy.  The  new 
nation  had  no  wish  to  go  into  the  general  contest  which  now 
occupied  the  world.  Of  all  men  in  America,  Washington 
was  most  determined  that  she  should  not  be  involved  in  such 
confusion.  On  the  other  hand,  the  new  government  of 
France,  which  was  seeking  and  making  republican  alliances 
all  through  Europe,  was  very  little  satisfied  with  an  ally  like 
America,  which  did  not  come  to  its  assistance  when  it  was 
in  need  although  it  had  founded  republican  government  for 


256  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

itself.  From  the  cross  purposes,  natural  enough  in  such  a 
condition  of  things,  there  sprang  confusion  and  even  con- 
test. The  French  cruisers  constantly  seized  American  ves- 
sels engaged  in  lawful  trade,  generally  in  the  West  Indies. 
Once  and  again  they  insulted  American  cruisers  which  had 
been  sent  out  to  protect  American  commerce. 

The  French  sent  Genet  as  an  envoy  to  America,  who, 
with. the  same  arrogance  which  had  characterized  the  envoys 
of  the  French  republic  in  Europe,  addressed  public  assem- 
blies in  the  large  cities,  and  affected  to  be  the  adviser  in 
government  of  the  nation  to  which  he  was  commissioned. 
The  American  government  would  not  brook  such  imperti- 
nence, and  demanded  and  obtained  his  recall.  Meanwhile, 
every  phase  of  the  conflict  between  England  and  France  was 
reflected  in  the  American  seaboard  cities.  Thus  the  French 
frigate  Ambuscade  was  challenged  by  the  English  frigate 
Boston  to  a  naval  duel  off  New  York.  She  had  the  advan- 
tage, and  was  received  on  her  return  from  the  battle  with 
wild  enthusiasm  by  the  populace.  The  waves  of  opinion  ran 
backward  and  forward.  The  government,  which  was  deter- 
mined to  keep  an  equal  hand  in  such  contests,  was  now 
abused  and  now  high  in  popular  favor. 

With  England  the  relations  of  America  were  quite  as  com- 
plicated as  those  with  France.  The  identity  of  language  and 
the  relationships  of  birth  naturally  made  the  Americans  the 
customers  of  England  for  the  manufactures  of  Europe  ;  and 
the  habits  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  tended  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  close  commerce  between  the  nations.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  were  scarcely  twenty  miles  of  sea  coast 
which  had  not  been  ravaged  by  the  English  army  or  the 
English  navy.  All  the  old  sentimental  love  of  home  had 
vanished,  and  the  Englishman  of  that  day  was  as  thoroughly 
hated  by  the  American  as  ever  was  a  Spaniard  hated  by  an 
Englishman  of  Hawkins's  fleet.  All  the  efforts  of  France 
and  of  the  American  diplomatists  in  France  had  been 
directed  toward  creating  a  direct  trade  between  France  and 
the  new-born  States.     Still  England  held  the  northern  front- 


jay's  treaty.  257 

ier  of  America.  Some  treaty  of  commerce  with  England 
was  necessary.  America  supplied  the  West  India  colonies 
with  their  food.  Among  the  early  endeavors  of  the  govern- 
ment, therefore,  was  the  negotiation  of  a  treaty  of  commerce 
which  should  regulate  the  transactions  of  commerce  between 
the  nations. 

This  treaty  was  made  by  John  Jay,  a  statesmen  of  great 
purity  and  wide  intelligence.  It  happened  to  return  to 
America  for  ratification  at  the  moment  when  the  popular 
enthusiasm  in  favor  of  France  was  at  the  highest,  and  when 
the  English  scale  happened  to  be  very  low.  The  question  of 
ratification  became,  therefore,  a  very  bitter  party  question 
between  the  friends  of  England  and  the  friends  of  France. 
The  old  advocates  of  a  strong  government  generally  took  up 
the  English  side,  while  the  advocates  of  strong  State  govern- 
ments took  up  the  French  side.  It  was  only  after  a  battle 
of  which  our  modern  politics  give  hardly  an  idea  that  the 
treaty,  with  some  modifications,  was  ratified  by  the  Senate. 
Of  the  detail  of  the  diplomacy  in  this  and  other  treaties, 
some  account  will  be  given  in  a  separate  chapter. 

In  the  ratification  of  all  the  early  treaties  some  questions 
arose  which  are  open  questions  to  this  day.  The  Constitu- 
tion provides  that  treaties  must  be  ratified  by  the  Senate,  and 
seems  to  give  to  that  body  the  power  of  ratification.  But 
the  same  Constitution  provides  that  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives shall  originate  all  "  money  bills,"  meaning  all  pro- 
posals for  expenditure.  If,  then,  a  treaty  requires  any 
expenditure,  even  of  a  small  sum,  may  the  Senate  ratify  it 
without  consulting  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  sub-  ) 
ject  of  that  expenditure  ?  This  question  has  again  and 
again  arisen  between  the  two  houses  of  Congress.  It  will 
readily  be  seen  that  though  the  President  may  call  an  extra 
session  of  the  Senate  for  the  purpose  of  confirming  a  treaty, 
the  Senate's  power  of  ratification  might  be  seriously  abridged. 

Washington  left  office  at  a  time  when  the  extreme  politi- 
cians and  the  journals  under  their  command  were  disposed 
to  vilify  even  him  because   he  gave  so  little  countenance  to 


258  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

their  extravagant  plans.  But  the  people  of  the  country 
never  failed  in  their  enthusiastic  love  of  him.  When  he 
retired,  in  1797,  he  issued  a  farewell  address  to  the  American 
nation  which  has  always  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  central 
documents  in  the  study  of  American  politics.  Its  advice  to 
his  American  countrymen,  that  they  should  abstain  from 
entangling  alliances  with  the  powers  of  the  Old  World,  was 
founded  upon  the  experiences  of  his  own  administration,  and 
has  since  been  observed  almost  as  if  its  suggestions  were  an 
integral  part  of  the  national  Constitution. 

We  will  now  turn  from  the  limited  order  of  the  presiden- 
tial administrations  to  trace  the  steps  of  progress  which  the 
people  of  the  United  States  made  as  soon  as  it  found  that 
the  national  government  was  secure. 


GAINS  IN  PROSPERITY.  259 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Three    Steps   of   Progress. 

Cotton  Industry — Gen.  Greene  in  Georgia — Eli  Whitney — Invention  of 
the  Cotton  Gin — Whitney's  Life — English  Inventions — Maritime  Suc- 
cess— North-west  Coast — Columbia  River — Emigration  to  the  West — 
Fulton's  Introduction  of  the  Steamboat. 

WE  are  now  to  review  the  three  great  steps  in  the  pros- 
perity of  the  nation  in  the  first  fifty  years  after  its 
creation.  They  were  scarcely  thought  of  by  the  men  who 
made  the  Constitution,  and  were  but  scantily  provided  for  in 
that  instrument.  But  they  were  the  direct  result  of  the  new 
nationality,  and  without  it  each  of  the  three  would  have  been 
impossible. 

These  steps  in  American  history  are  :  first,  the  development 
of  the  industry  in  cotton  ;  second,  the  commercial  pre-emi- 
nence gained  by  the  United  States  in  the  half  century  which 
follows  the  period  of  the  formation  of  the  Constitution;  and, 
third,  the  creation  of  the  Western  States. 

The  first  in  order  of  these  new  steps  in  national  life  was 
the  astonishing  development  of  the  cotton  industry.  In  1794, 
when  Jay's  treaty  with  England  was  made,  so  little  cotton  was 
raised  in  the  United  States  that  none  of  the  negotiators  of 
that  treaty  knew  that  any  was  exported.  In  1843,  fifty  years 
after,  the  cotton  crop  of  the  United  States  was  2,000,000 
bales.     The  crop  of  1885  was  5,700,000  bales. 

The  increase  came  about  in  this  way  : 

At  the  end  of  the  war  the  new  State  of  Georgia,  by  way  of 
showing  its  gratitude  to  Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene,  the  victor  at 
Eutaw,  gave  to  him  a  tract  of  land.  Greene,  like  other  gen- 
erals of  whom  mention  has  been  made  already,  had  to  begin 
a  new  life  when  he  laid  down  his  commission ;  and  he  ac- 


26o  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

cepted  this  gift  with  the  determination  to  become  a  citizen 
of  Georgia.  He  removed  his  family  thither  in  1784,  and 
established  a  plantation,  where  he  himself  died  in  1786.  In 
the  year  1792  Mrs.  Greene  had  been  visiting  the  North,  and 
on  her  return  met,  as  a  fellow-passenger  in  the  packet,  Eli 
Whitney,  a  graduate  of  the  last  summer  from  Yale  College. 
lie  was  then  just  twenty-seven  years  old,  and  had  agreed  to 
act  as  tutor  in  the  family  of  a  Georgian  gentleman.  When  he 
arrived  in  Georgia,  however,  he  found  that  other  arrange- 
ments had  been  made,  and  that  he  was  without  a  home.  It 
was  then  that  he  accepted  an  invitation  from  Mrs.  Greene, 
and  became  her  guest  for  the  rest  of  the  winter. 

A  company  of  her  friends  were  one  day  discussing  the  re- 
sources of  Georgia,  and  expressed  their  regret  that  no  machine 
had  been  invented  which  would  separate  cotton  from  its  seed, 
so  that  it  could  be  shipped  for  the  English  market  in  compe- 
tition with  East  Indian  cotton,  which  was  laboriously  picked 
by  hand.  Mrs.  Greene  said  that  if  a  machine  were  to  be  in- 
vented, Mr.  Whitney  would  invent  it,  such  skill  had  he  shown 
in  matters  relating  to  machinery.  The  problem  was  stated 
to  him.  With  some  difficulty,  some  cotton  still  in  the  boll 
was  obtained  from  Savannah.  There  was  none  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  plantation,  and  Mr.  Whitney  had  never  seen 
any.  He  applied  himself  at  once  to  the  invention  required. 
He  succeeded,  and  so  soon,  that  before  the  summer  was  over 
he  had  completed  working  models  of  the  cotton-gin  which 
afterward  bore  his  name.  He  and  his  companions  in  the 
adventure  were  among  the  first  of  the  inventors  who  claimed 
the  benefit  of  the  patent  law  of  the  new  nation.  His  first 
patent  was  issued  to  him  in  March,  i793- 

Such  is  the  brief  history  of  a  great  invention,  which  was 
destined  to  change  the  history  of  America,  and,  indeed,  of 
the  world.  It  should  interest  young  men  to  remember  that  it 
was  the  invention  of  a  young  man  in  the  first  year  after  he 
left  college. 

Whitney  went  to  Connecticut  to  establish  a  factory,  and 
did  so.     It  is  a  pity  that  we  must  add  that  various  piratical 


RISE   OF   THE    COTTON    MANUFACTURE.  261 

inventors  did  their  best  to  take  from  him  the  profit  of  his 
great  invention.  Indeed,  that  invention  itself,  while  it  changed 
the  fortune  of  the  country,  brought  very  little  profit  to  Eli 
Whitney.  The  United  States  afterward  employed  him  as  a 
manufacturer  of  muskets,  but  the  surreptitious  inventions  of 
cotton-gins  borrowed  from  his  own  were  such  that,  up  till  his 
death,  he  received  nothing  from  his  patent  until  it  expired 
in  the  year  1807.  He  lived  till  the  year  1825,  when  he  died 
sixty  years  old.  At  that  time  the  cotton  States  produced 
three  quarters  of  a  million  bales  ;  at  this  time  the  production 
is  nearly  seven  millions  of  bales  ;  and  this  enormous  increase 
was  all  due  to  the  invention  of  this  machine. 

During  the  same  period  the  English  manufacturers  were 
improving  the  machinery  with  which  they  worked  the  fiber 
which  America  was  producing  for  their  hands.  Every  time 
that  trade  with  England  was  stopped,  as  by  the  war  of  181 2, 
American  manufacturers  attempted  the  same  inventions.  The 
necessities  of  America  for  cotton  cloth  could  not  be  left  to 
the  accidents  of  blockades  or  the  exigencies  of  war.  At  the 
end  of  the  War  of  181 2  this  industry  was  so  largely  established, 
and  it  was  so  evidently  in  the  interest  of  the  cotton-growing 
States  that  it  should  be  maintained,  that,  with  the  approval 
of  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  represented  those  States,  a  strong;  pro- 
tective duty  gave  assistance  to  the  American  manufacturers. 
From  that  time  they  have  been  the  competitors  of  Europe  in 
a  manufacture  so  necessary  for  the  comfort  of  the  world.  It 
is  said  that  England  conquered  Napoleon  by  the  wealth  which 
she  accumulated  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton.  This  wealth 
was  largely  due  to  the  change  in  American  agriculture  which 
we  have  named  as  the  first  of  the  three  great  powers  which 
were  active  in  the  creation  of  the  United  States,  as  we  know 
that  nation  to-day. 

So  soon  as  a  firm  national  government  gave  opportunity 
for  safe  investment  in  commercial  enterprise,  the  maritime 
adventure  of  the  new  nation  increased  with  marvelous  rapid- 
ity.    The  men  of  New  England  inherit  a  passion  for  the  sea 


262  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

from  their  Kentish,  Danish,  and  Norse  ancestry.  Scarcely 
were  they  established  in  Plymouth,  in  Massachusetts  Bay, 
and  on  the  shores  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  before  they 
began  to  build  ships.  They  found  that  the  timber  of  their 
forests  served  them  well  for  this  purpose.  There  were  no 
better  harbors  in  the  world  than  those  where  they  were  settled. 
The  fisheries  of  the  neighboring  coasts  provided  them  with 
food  and  gave  them  an  article  of  ready  commerce.  Before  two 
generations  were  passed  the  New  Englanders  were  furnishing 
salted  fish  to  the  Lenten  days  of  every  Catholic  country  in 
Europe.  They  were  providing  the  West  Indies  and  Bahamas 
with  food  which  those  islands  did  not  easily  furnish.  They 
brought  back  sugar,  molasses,  and  the  silver  of  their  coinage. 
Before  the  end  of  the  century  they  had  learned  that  they 
could  build  cheaper  and  better  ships  than  could  be  built  in 
England.  De  Foe,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  course 
of  commerce,  makes  Robinson  Crusoe  propose,  in  1694,  to 
steer  for  Boston  harbor  for  repairs;  and  before  the  year  1700 
Lord  Bellomont,  the  governor,  reported  to  the  English  gov- 
ernment that  the  province  of  Massachusetts  had  more  tons  of 
shipping  afloat  than  had  all  Scotland  and  Ireland  together. 

The  reader  has  seen  how  extensive  was  the  privateering 
force  of  these  States  while  the  war  lasted.  So  soon  as  it  was 
over  the  enterprising  men  who  had  been  obliged  to  satisfy 
themselves  in  adventure,  chiefly  warlike,  turned  to  distant 
navigation,  as  well  as  to  the  commerce  to  which  the  English 
navigation  laws  had  confined  them. 

Burke  had  spoken  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  with  enthu- 
siastic praise  of  the  wealth  which  "  they  drew  from  both 
oceans  by  their  fisheries."  He  meant  the  northern  and  the 
southern  Atlantic.  As  soon  as  they  had  direct  freedom  of 
trade  with  all  the  world,  the  merchants  of  Salem  and  Boston 
tried  the  adventure  of  the  Pacific,  and  pushed  so  far  as  the 
north-west  coast,  then  just  known  to  men  by  the  explorations 
of  Cooke  and  Clerke,  Vancouver  and  Krusenstern.  La 
Perouse  visited  the  same  coast  in  1787,  at  the  beginning  of 
his  unfortunate  and  mysterious  voyage. 


EARLY   TRADE.  263 

In  the  year  1792,  Captain  Gray,  in  the  ship  Columbia 
Rediviva,  sailing  from  Boston,  discovered  the  great  river  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  Columbia,  from  his  ship,  a  name 
which  it  bears  to  this  day.  The  voyage  was  one  in  a  trade 
which  the  New  England  merchants  had  devised,  and  which 
they  long  continued  with  success.  Vessels  with  hardware  such 
as  savages  need,  and  gew-gaws  such  as  they  prize,  went  direct 
from  New  England  around  the  Island  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  or 
through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  to  the  north-western  coast  of 
America.  Here  the  captains  sold  their  wares  to  the  Indians, 
receiving  in  return  the  skins  of  those  regions,  which  the  In- 
dians soon  learned  to  have  ready  for  the  white  men.  It  was 
then  an  easy  voyage  to  China,  where,  by  a  second  exchange, 
the  furs  produced  cargoes  of  teas,  silk,  ginger,  and  other 
Chinese  goods,  which  were  then  brought  back  by  the  Indian 
Ocean  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  for  the  supply  of  the 
markets  of  the  world. 

To  merchants  engaged  in  this  trade — in  the  older  trade  in 
fish  and  oil — in  the  building  of  ships  for  sale  in  European 
ports — the  complications  of  European  war  soon  offered 
advantages  which,  even  in  1783,  the  most  sanguine  did  not 
dream  of.  So  soon  as  France  was  arrayed  against  the  world, 
the  merchandize  which  she  needed  from  abroad  could  scarcely 
be  brought  to  her  in  her  own  vessels,  so  great  was  the  danger 
of  capture.  Vessels  of  England,  or  her  other  enemies,  were, 
of  course,  refused  entrance  to  her  ports.  When  Spain  was 
allied  to  her,  or  Italy  or  Holland,  the  condition  of  those 
countries  was  the  same.  The  commerce  of  the  European 
world  thus  fell  largely  into  the  hands  of  "neutrals."  Of  the 
neutral  powers  America  was  by  far  the  largest,  in  a  maritime 
view,  or  that  which  had  most  ships  and  seamen.  American 
maritime  commerce  thus  received  an  unexpected  bounty. 
The  ship  which  sailed  from  Boston,  or  New  York,  or  Balti- 
more, perhaps  never  returned  there.  She  was  engaged  in 
lucrative  voyages  from  one  port  of  Europe  to  another.  Thus, 
the  captain  sailed,  perhaps,  with  a  cargo  of  tobacco  for  Nantes. 
At  Nantes  he  might  take  wines  for  Liverpool,  to  which  port 


264  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

no  French  merchantman  could  go.  At  Liverpool  he  could 
take  English  hardware  to  Italy,  to  whose  ports  no  English 
merchantman  could  go.  From  Italy  he  took  oil  to  St. 
Petersburg.  From  St.  Petersburg  he  took  hemp  to  the 
Spanish  dock-yards.  Thus  for  year  after  year  he  might 
continue  in  the  European  seas  in  what  came  to  be  known  as 
"  the  carrying  trade."  Some  of  his  crew  remained  with  him, 
perhaps  all.  The  places  of  those  who  left  him  were  easily 
supplied,  and  from  time  to  time  he  remitted  to  the  owners  of 
his  ship  his  accounts  of  their  joint  successes,  and  the  drafts, 
which  were  the  profits,  which  were  invested  in  the  building  of 
new  vessels  for  the  like  uses.  As  the  commerce  of  European 
ports  suffered  more  and  more  under  the  Continental  War,  the 
commerce  of  America  improved,  excepting  at  those  periods 
which  are  described  in  another  chapter,  when  the  rulers  of 
America  joined  in  the  European  complications. 

The  third  of  the  great  movements  of  the  American  people, 
which  it  conducted  for  itself,  without  guidance  or  assistance 
from  the  national  government,  was  the  emigration  by  which 
it  possessed  the  States  then  called  Western,  which  now  divide 
the  States  of  the  Atlantic  from  those  of  the  Pacific.  Of  this 
emigration  some  account  is  given  in  another  chapter  of  this 
book.  It  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  organized,  though 
sometimes  a  considerable  party  moved  together.  Single 
families,  single  men,  emigrated  as  they  chose,  when  they 
chose,  and  where  they  chose.  For  a  generation  the  move- 
ment was  looked  upon  with  doubt  by  the  more  prominent 
politicians.  But  the  People  was  wiser  than  its  leaders.  After 
the  great  invention  of  the  steamboat  had  been  successfully 
tried  by  Fulton,  the  value  of  the  great  western  region  was 
felt  by  all  men  for  the  first  time. 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  265 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Early  Diplomacy  of  the  United  States. 

"Jay's  Treaty" — Questions  Left  Unsettled  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace — With- 
drawal of  Negroes  and  Garrisons  Left  in  North-western  Posts — States 
Unwilling  to  Carry  Out  the  Recommendations  of  Congress — Difficulty 
in  Obtaining  Favorable  Terms  for  Commerce  with  England — No  Un- 
divided Front  in  America — French  and  English  Sympathizers — Im- 
pressment of  American  Seamen — Complications  Caused  by  War 
Between  France  and  England — Jay  Makes  What  Terms  he  Can — His 
Treaty  Unpopular,  but  Prevents  War — Negotiations  with  Spain — 
Free  Navigation  of  the  Mississippi  Desired — Florida  Boundary  Ques- 
tions— Tedious  Negotiations — Pinckney's  Treaty  with  Godoy — France 
Our  First  Ally — Early  Treaties  with  that  Power — Difficulties  Caused 
by  the  War  of  1793— American  Desire  for  Neutrality — French  Dis- 
satisfaction Caused  by  Washington's  Infractions  of  Treaties — Munroe 
Sent  to  France — French  Indignation  at  Jay's  Treaty — Tortuous 
Course  of  Negotiations — Preparations  for  War — One  More  Attempt 
for  Peace — Negotiations  with  the  First  Consul— Friendly  Footing 
Obtained — A  Fortunate  Neutrality. 

IT  will  be  more  convenient  to  our  readers  to  consider  at 
once  the  details  of  the  treaties  which  have  been  alluded 
to,  the  negotiation  of  which  sometimes  covers  a  long  period 
of  years. 

An  understanding  of  the  main  lines  of  the  foreign  rela- 
tions of  the  United  States  during  the  first  few  years  of  the 
country's  existence  is  most  necessary  to  an  appreciation  of 
the  state  of  the  country  during  that  period.  The  subject  is 
one  that  can  be  presented  only  in  the  broadest  manner  in  the 
space  at  our  command.  There  are,  however,  certain  principal 
topics,  a  clear  statement  of  which  will  do  much  toward  giv- 
ing a  correct  view. 

The  first  of  these   is  the  treaty  with   England  negotiated 
by  John  Jay  in  1794,  which  commonly  goes  by  the  name  of 
il  Jay's  Treaty." 
12 


266  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  there  were  various 
questions  between  the  United  States  and  England  which 
;  seemed  fit  subjects  for  negotiation.  The  Treaty  of  Peace  had 
announced  the  independence  of  the  United  States,  but  it  had 
not  contained  a  settlement  of  certain  questions  sure  to  arise. 
And  even  out  of  the  treaty  itself  arose  matters  which  it 
seemed  would  be  productive  of  trouble.  In  the  seventh 
article  of  that  treaty  it  had  been  agreed  that  "  His  Britannic 
Majesty  shall,  with  all  convenient  speed  and  without  causing 
any  destruction,  or  carrying  away  any  Negroes  or  other  prop- 
erty of  the  American  inhabitants,  withdraw  all  his  armies, 
garrisons,  and  fleets  from  the  said  United  States,  and  from 
every  port,  place,  and  harbor  within  the  same."  It  was  an 
infraction  of  this  article  that  the  English  armies  should  have 
carried  away  with  them  on  their  withdrawal  from  New  York 
a  large  number  of  Negro  slaves,  the  property  of  Americans, 
and  also  that  the  English  Government  should  refuse  to  with- 
draw the  garrisons  from  the  frontier  posts  of  Michilimack- 
inac,  Detroit,  Fort  Erie,  Niagara,  Oswego,  Oswegatchie,  on 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  Port  au  fer  and  Dutchman's  Point,  on 
Lake  Champlain,  all  within  the  territory  acknowledged  in 
the  treaty  to  belong  to  the  United  States.  The  first  point 
was  of  great  interest  to  the  former  owners  of  the  slaves,  the 
latter  to  the  whole  nation,  both  because  the  holding  of  the 
posts  wounded  the  national  pride,  and  also  because  it  became 
clearer  and  clearer  as  each  year  passed  that  English  agents 
in  those  posts  incited  the  Indians  near  by  to  hostilities  toward 
the  United  States. 

The  English  were  not,  however,  without  some  show  of  right 
in  their  position.  The  fourth  article  of  the  treaty  had  de- 
clared, "  That  creditors  on  either  side  shall  meet  with  no  law- 
ful impediment  to  the  recovery,  at  the  full  value  in  sterling 
money,  of  all  bona  fide  debts  heretofore  contracted."  The 
fifth  article  agreed  that  "  Congress  shall  earnestly  recom- 
mend to  the  legislatures  of  the  respective  States  to  provide 
for  the  restitution  of  all  estates,"  and  so  forth,  which  had  been 
confiscated.     Now,  the  different   States  had  passed  laws  at 


TREATY   QUESTIONS.  267 

various  times  of  such  a  nature  that  the  collection  of  debts 
due  to  Englishmen,  existing  before  the  Revolution,  had  be- 
come either  difficult  or  impossible,  and  in  certain  cases  had 
shown  no  disposition  to  give  up  confiscated  property.  Under 
the  Articles  of  Confederation,  as  the  reader  knows,  Congress 
could  only  recommend  in  such  cases.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  two  articles  were  practically  of  no  effect.  It  was  on  this 
account  that  the  British  Government  refused  to  carry  out  the 
seventh  article. 

There  were  other  matters,  generally  in  regard  to  trade, 
which  required  settlement.  At  that  period  commercial  mat- 
ters were  conducted  and  regulated  by  an  immense  number  of 
treaties  between  the  various  powers  in  the  world,  every  power 
desiring  to  gain  for  itself  exceptional  privileges.  The  mer- 
chants of  the  United  States  desired  a  close  commercial  alli- 
ance with  England.  But  that  power,  foreseeing  that  the  com- 
merce of  the  United  States  would  come  to  her  soon  enough 
in  natural  course,  showed  no  disposition  to  grant  any  priv- 
ileges in  return  for  what  she  could  get  without.  A  particular 
desire  existed  in  the  United  States  to  be  allowed  to  trade 
with  the  West  Indies,  a  profitable  commerce  which  had  long 
been  carried  on  by  the  colonies,  but  which,  being  denied  to 
foreign  countries,  was  closed  to  the  United  States  when  that 
country  became  independent.  There  were  other  questions, 
arising  later,  which  we  shall  note  in  their  place. 

The  views  of  the  two  parties  in  the  case  must  be  under- 
stood. England,  becoming  rapidly  involved  in  continental 
entanglements,  showed  no  desire  to  offer  any  thing  toward  a 
peaceful  accommodation  of  these  questions.  In  case  of 
negotiation  she  had  little  to  gain  and  much  to  lose.  She  pre- 
ferred to  leave  the  questions  in  statu  quo.  In  case  of  war  she 
had  every  thing  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose.  It  is  easy  to  see  that 
negotiation  on  these  terms  was  difficult.  The  American 
States,  on  the  other  hand,  were  by  no  means  at  unity  among 
themselves.  The  slaveholders  cared  for  the  stolen  Negroes  ; 
the  seaport  towns  cared  for  the  British  commerce  and  the 
West  India  trade  ;  the    west    cared    more    particularly  about 


268  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

the  evacuation  of  the  posts.  There  was  no  undivided  front. 
In  other  ways  the  country  was  divided.  There  was  a  large 
party  who  believed  in  France  as  an  ally.  They  were  averse 
to  any  concessions  to  Great  Britain,  and  believed  that  the 
United  States  would  find  its  true  interest  in  seeking  a  close 
connection  with  that  power  which  had  enabled  her  to  gain 
her  independence.  Another  party,  having  a  sincere  sympathy 
with  English  principles,  and  a  true  love  and  admiration  for 
that  country  which  had  so  long  been  a  mother,  though  a  harsh 
one,  to  America,  considered  that  an  alliance  with  Great 
Britain  was  of  more  value  than  any  other  foreign  connection. 
As  England  and  France  were  drifting  toward  war,  these  two 
factions  became  more  and  more  bitterly  opposed  to  each 
other.  Though  neither  desired  to  carry  its  views  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  involve  America  in  a  war  on  the  side  of  either 
European  power,  each  had  a  different  policy  in  regard  to 
negotiations. 

Through  the  indifference  of  England  it  was  with  great 
difficulty  that  any  negotiations  proceeded  at  all.  John  Adams, 
the  first  minister  accredited  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  was 
received  in  the  most  cordial  manner,  but  was  unable  to  effect 
anything.  Mr.  Hammond,  who  was  sent  as  minister  plen- 
ipotentiary to  this  country,  carried  on  a  dilatory  correspond- 
ence with  Mr.  Jefferson,  from  which  it  appeared  that  England 
was  firmly  resolved  to  abate  nothing  from  her  position. 

Meanwhile,  new  matters  for  difference  had  arisen.  One 
was  in  regard  to  English  impressment  of  American  seamen. 
The  captains  of  short-handed  English  cruisers  would  stop 
American  ships  and  take  from  them  such  sailors  as  they 
required,  on  the  pretense  that  they  were  English-born  and, 
therefore,  still  the  king's  subjects  and  so  liable  to  impress- 
ment. 

On  the  breaking  out,  in  1793,  of  war  between  England  and 
the  French  Republic,  new  matters  of  dispute  arose.  Both 
the  belligerent  powers  issued  regulations  whereby  either 
enemy's  merchandise,  or  contraband  (in  which  were  included 
provisions)  destined  for  an  enemy's  port,  was  declared  good 


jay's  treaty.  269 

prize  when  found  in  neutral  vessels.  Such  a  position,  by  no 
means  unusual  at  that  time,  resulted  disastrously  to  American 
commerce,  for  the  United  States  was  almost  the  only 
neutral  carrying  power  at  this  time.  Protest  in  the  matter 
was  made,  and  found  useless. 

All  these  matters  required  settlement.  If  they  could  not 
be  settled,  war  was  the  only  remedy.  And  for  war  the  United 
States  was  unprepared.  Therefore  it  is  not  astonishing  that 
the  business  did  not  turn  out  greatly  to  her  advantage.  In 
1794  Mr.  Jay  was  appointed  to  a  special  mission  to  negotiate 
a  treaty  with  England.  He  was  of  those  who  held  that  it 
was  to  the  interest  of  America  to  unite  more  and  more  closely 
with  England.  He  negotiated  a  treaty  without  great  difficulty, 
but  it  was  by  means  of  giving  up  most  of  the  disputed  points 
and  leaving  others  unsettled.  It  is  now  clear  that  this  was 
the  only  course  that  could  have  been  pursued.  By  this  treaty 
it  was  provided  that  the  northern  posts  should  be  evacuated 
in  two  years'  time,  that  the  matter  of  English  debts  should  be 
referred  to  a  commission,  that  claims  of  violation  of  neutral 
rights  should  be  referred  to  another,  that  there  should  be  free 
trade  between  all  the  British  dominions  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States,  and  that  the  United  States  should  be  free  to 
pursue  the  East  India  trade.  The  question  of  compensation 
for  the  Negroes  was  dropped  ;  the  question  of  impressment 
was  dropped,  as  being  impossible  to  settle ;  the  question  of 
the  West  India  trade  was  settled  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
United  States  procured  a  suspension  of  its  terms,  so  that 
that  question  was  also  practically  dropped. 

There  was  a  great  outcry  made  in  the  United  States  at 
the  publication  of  the  treaty,  but  it  was  probably  the  best 
way  out  of  a  bad  place.  It  was  negotiated  by  Mr.  Jay  in 
good  faith,  and  as  being  the  best  thing  that  could  be  done 
under  the  circumstances.  Certain  of  the  questions  which 
were  dropped  came  up  for  settlement  later,  as  we  shall  see 
when  we  reach  the  war  of  181 2. 

With  Spain  no  treaty  at  all  had  been  made  at  the  time  of 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  but  there  was  at  least  one 


270  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

very  important  question,  a  question  which  grew  in  importance 
-^  day  by  day.     This  was  in  regard  to  the  free  navigation  of  the 

4  Mississippi  River.     As  the  settlers  pushed  out  into  the  "  Great 

West,"  as  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  then  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois  began  to  be  settled,  more  and  more  did  it  become 
.,  apparent  that  it  was  necessary  that  the  United  States  should 
be  allowed  free  navigation  of  the  river  from  source  to  ocean. 
At  this  time,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  Mississippi  was 
the  western  boundary  of  the  United  States  from  its  source 
down  to  the  31st  parallel.  West  of  the  Mississippi  and  south 
of  the  31st  parallel  the  territory  belonged  to  Spain,  and  this 
power,  owning  both  banks  of  the  river  at  New  Orleans  and 
_below,  claimed  the  right  to  exact  such  duties  at  that  place  as 
seemed  to  her  good.  To  obtain  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  then  was  one  of  the  main  efforts  of  American 
diplomacy  during  this  period.  There  were  also  boundary 
questions  in  regard  to  Florida,  which  need  not  be  exactly 
stated,  which  were  pressed  by  Spain,  and  both  countries  de- 
sired some  basis  for  commercial  intercourse.  John  Jay  had, 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  resided  for 
some  time  in  Spain  endeavoring  to  effect  a  treaty.  After  the 
peace,  in  1785,  he  was  commissioned  by  Congress  again  to 
attempt  negotiations  with  Gardoqui,  at  that  time  Charge  d'Af- 
faires  from  Spain  in  this  country.  Spain  demanded  that  the 
1  ^  United  States  should  give  up  her  claim  to  the  freedom  of  the 
river,  and  should  make  some  settlement  of  boundaries.  In 
return  she  wTas  willing  to  grant  large  and  liberal  commercial 
privileges.  But  Jay  was  firm  so  far  as  the  freedom  of  nav- 
igation was  concerned,  and  no  result  was  reached.  For  some 
time  nothing  more  was  attempted.  Mr.  Carmichael  remained 
at  the  Court  of  Spain  and  received  due  recognition  as  Charge 
d'Affaires,  but  nothing  was  said  of  a  treaty.  In  1790  the  state 
of  Europe  was  such  that  it  was  probable  that  a  general  war 
would  ensue,  and  as  it  appeared  necessary  that  the  United 
States  should  stand  on  some  firm  ground  in  her  relations  with 
Spain,  a  commission  was  appointed  to  attempt  negotiations 
again  in  regard  to  the  navigation  of  the  river.     The  commis- 


SPANISH   NEGOTIATIONS.  27 1 

sion  was  also  to  touch  on  the  Spanish  claims  of  territory  in 
the  south,  and  to  request  some  adjustment  of  commercial 
matters. 

Not  to  dwell  in  detail  on  the  negotiations  which  continued 
in  various  hands  for  several  years,  the  position  of  the  United 
States  was  always  as  follows:  That  in  1763  (when  Louisiana 
had  been  granted  to  Spain)  the  free  navigation  of  the  river 
had  been  granted  to  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  treaty  of  peace 
between  that  power  and  the  United  States  the  latter  country 
had  been  expressly  named  as  being,  in  respect  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, in  the  same  position  which  Great  Britain  had  pre- 
viously stood  in.  It  was  also  held  that  by  the  law  of  nations 
the  United  States,  holding  the  upper  part  of  the  river  and 
having  such  immense  territories  lying  upon  it,  had,  from 
that  very  fact,  a  right  to  free  outlet.  These  positions  were 
denied  by  Spain  on  very  strong  grounds,  which  it  would  take 
too  long  to  state  in  detail. 

The  commission  appointed  did  not  effect  any  thing.  Jay's 
treaty  with  England,  signed  in  1794,  complicated  matters, 
for  in  the  next  year  a  treaty  was  signed  between  France  and 
Spain,  and  a  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  was  naturally  looked  upon  with  displeasure  by  both 
those  powers.  Despite  this,  however,  after  some  delays  and 
conversations  with  the  Spanish  commissioner  in  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Thomas  Pinckney  was  appointed  minister,  and 
negotiation  began  again.  At  this  time  Godoy,  afterward 
called  "  Prince  of  Peace,"  was  at  the  head  of  Spanish  affairs, 
and  with  him  Mr.  Pinckney  succeeded  in  arranging  matters 
so  that  a  treaty  was  made,  October  25th,  1795.  Tne  treaty 
was,  on  the  whole,  all  that  the  United  States  could  have 
expected  to  get.  The  great  point  was  conceded,  and  the 
Mississippi  was  free  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
Other  questions,  as  of  boundary  and  certain  damages,  were 
referred  to  commissions,  and  thus  placed  in  a  way  of  friendly 
settlement.  Various  questions  of  maritime  law  were 
arranged  in  later  articles. 

But  the   treaty,  although  not  unfavorable   to  the  United 


272  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

States,  was  not  very  satisfactory  to  Spain,  and  various  small 
complications  of  diplomacy  continually  troubled  the  relations 
of  the  two  countries,  until  in  the  continual  changes  of  Euro- 
pean policy  a  situation  arose  which  Jefferson  seized  upon, 
and  by  a  skillful  stroke  settled  the  greater  number  of  Spanish 
questions  at  once.  Of  these  measures  the  account  will  be 
tound  in  another  chapter. 

The  first  power  with  which  the  United  States  had  had  diplo- 
matic intercourse  had  been  France.  Immediately  after 
the  declaration  of  independence,  when  the  question  of  for- 
eign alliances  had  come  up  in  Congress,  Franc*  had  been, 
for  a  variety  of  reasons,  the  first  country  to  be  considered. 
A  commission  had  been  sent  to  that  country  the  same  year 
to  negotiate  an  alliance,  and  fifteen  months  after  their  arrival 
the  alliance  had  been  arranged.  Two  treaties,  one  of  alliance 
and  one  of  commerce,  had  been  concluded,  as  has  already 
been  related.  In  addition  to  these  treaties  it  appeared  nec- 
essary that  some  arrangement  should  be  made  in  regard  to 
the  exact  establishment  of  the  position  of  the  consuls  in  the 
various  ports  of  the  respective  countries.  And  to  this  end 
the  arranging  of  a  consular  convention  was  begun  by  Benja- 
min Franklin,  in  1782,  and  carried  on  for  six  years,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  it  was  signed  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  the 
Count  de  Montmorin.  But  this  convention,  although  its 
faults  did  not  at  first  appear,  proved  to  be  very  inconvenient 
on  the  breaking  out  of  war  between  France  and  England  in 
1793.  Under  this  convention  and  the  two  former  treaties, 
Genet,  the  commissioner  of  France  in  America  under  the 
convention,  proceeded  to  such  extravagant  lengths  in  pro- 
ceedings hostile  to  England  that  the  United  States,  foreseeing 
that  if  he  were  allowed  to  continue  she  would  infallibly  be 
forced  into  war  with  England,  was  constrained  to  ask  his 
recall,  which  was  granted.  It  was  the  desire  of  the  United 
States  to  pursue  a  neutral  policy,  and  such  had  been  the  pur- 
port of  the  proclamation  issued  by  General  Washington  at 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities.  Indeed,  it  was  impossible  that 
America  should  again  embark  upon  a  war  without  practically 


RELATIONS   WITH   FRANCE.  273 

giving  up  her  claims  to  independence  and  her  standing  as  a 
first-rate  power.  But  neutrality  seemed  incompatible  with 
an  observance  of  the  treaties  with  France,  treaties  which 
had  been  negotiated  under  a  very  different  state  of  things 
from  that  which  in  1793  existed. 

By  the  treaty  of  alliance  the  United  States  was  bound  to 
extend  certain  privileges  to  France  incompatible  with  a  neu- 
tral position,  and  such  as  would  have  infallibly  set  her  at  war 
with  England.  Public  opinion  was  sufficiently  on  the  side 
of  France  to  prevent  the  abrogation  of  its  treaties,  and  yet 
war  with  England  was  impossible.  In  such  a  case  a  position 
of  neutrality  required  the  constant  infraction  of  the  treaty. 
To  this  course  Washington  committed  the  United  States, 
much  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  France.  There  was  another 
point.  America  being  neutral,  her  commerce,  as  has  been 
pointed  out,  suffered  extremely  from  belligerent  operations, 
no  less  on  the  part  of  France  than  on  that  of  England. 
Such  was  the  position  of  the  two  countries  through  the 
second  term  of  Washington's  administration. 

At  the  time  of  Jay's  mission  to  England  James  Monroe 
was  sent  to  France  to  endeavor  to  obtain  a  better  under- 
standing between  the  two  nations.  He  could  not  accom- 
plish the  adjustment  of  all  difficulties,  although,  being  of  that 
party  in  the  United  States  which  looked  on  France  with 
more  favor  than  on  England,  he  was  able  to  conciliate  the 
temper  of  the  government  and  arrange  some  of  the  points 
of  difference.  But  on  the  ratification  of  Jay's  treaty  the 
French  "  Directory  "  were  thoroughly  enraged.  They  held 
it  to  be  an  act  of  treachery  on  the  part  of  the  United  States, 
recalled  their  representative  in  America,  and  Mr.  Monroe 
was  also  recalled.  But  as  it  was  necessary  that  the  govern- 
ment should  have  some  representative  in  France,  Mr.  Charles 
C.  Pinckney  was  sent  to  Paris.  But  he  was  not  received  by 
the  Directory  nor  even  allowed  to  remain  in  the  city.  He 
withdrew  to  Holland.  So  affairs  went  on.  A  commission 
subsequently  appointed  could  agree  upon  nothing,  and  with- 
drew, leaving  one  of  their  number  to  compromise  himself  by 
12* 


274  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

his  relations  with  the  wily  Talleyrand.  We  cannot  follow 
the  tortuous  course  of  the  diplomatic  relations,  and  must  be 
content  with  stating  the  result.  Affairs  finally  came  to  such 
a  pass,  American  commerce  had  suffered  so  much  from 
French  depredations,  that  the  country  prepared  for  war. 
Washington  was  made  commander-in-chief.  The  army  and 
navy  were  increased,  and  the  pre-existing  treaties  with 
France  were  by  Congress  declared  void.  But  it  was  by  no 
means  to  the  interest  of  the  United  States  to  make  war,  and 
Mr.  Adams,  as  President,  resolved  on  one  more  attempt  at 
negotiation.  Mr.  Vans  Murray,  Minister  to  Holland,  was 
joined  by  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth  and  Mr.  Davie,  and  the 
three  proceeded  to  Paris,  which  they  reached  in  1800.  On 
the  7th  of  March  of  that  year  they  were  presented  to  the 
First  Consul,  and  on  the  30th  of  September  they  signed  a  con- 
vention together  with  the  French  commissioners. 

The  convention  was  managed  only  as  a  temporizing  act. 
The  main  questions  arising  from  the  treaty  of  alliance  were 
left  unsettled.  Commercial  matters,  about  which  there  had 
been  no  dispute,  were  reaffirmed,  and  various  matters  of 
maritime  law  which  had  been  in  question  were  arranged 
between  the  contracting  parties.  But  although  nothing  of 
great  importance  was  settled  war  was  averted;  and  that 
was  a  most  important  thing  when  we  consider  the  enormous 
power  of  France  during  the  following  years,  and  the  enormous 
gain  which  the  United  States  subsequently  succeeded  in 
making  by  being  on  friendly  terms  with  her.  For  had  war 
come  on  when  the  Floridas  and  Louisiana  were  both  pos- 
sessed by  European  powers,  undoubtedly  the  chances  of  the 
United  States  for  ultimately  acquiring  those  necessary  pos- 
sessions would  have  been  greatly  lessened,  not  to  speak  of 
the  dangerous  neighbors  they  must  have  been.  And  although 
troubles  with  France  continued,  the  convention  of  1800  at 
least  had  the  merit  of  putting  off,  as  it  happened,  from  that 
time  to  this,  the  resort  to  war  as  a  last  means  of  arbitration. 

To  the  careful  observer  of  the  position  of  the  United  States 
at   the  adoption   of  the  Constitution,   with  reference  to  the 


ADVANTAGES    GAINED.  275 

events  which  convulsed  Europe  during  the  twelve  years  fol- 
lowing, it  can  hardly  fail  to  appear  remarkable  that  the 
United  States,  in  the  condition  in  which  she  then  was,  should 
not  have  been  drawn  into  complications  which  could  have 
ended  only  in  war.  And  war  at  that  moment,  as  is  apparent, 
was  impossible  if  the  United  States  was  to  retain  its  position 
as  a  first-rate  independent  power.  It  appears,  then,  remark- 
able that  the  United  States  should  have  been  able  to  retain  a 
neutral  position  for  these  years,  even  though  she  gained 
absolutely  nothing.  She  did,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  gain  some- 
thing in  each  of  the  three  treaties  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
From  Great  Britain  she  gained  the  evacuation  of  the  north- 
ern posts;  an  inestimable  gain,  when  we  consider  the  war  of 
181 2.  From  Spain  she  gained  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi; of  vast  importance  in  its  day,  though  the  brilliancy  of 
the  concession  was  dimmed  by  the  acquisition  of  the  whole 
of  Louisiana  some  years  later.  And  from  France  she  vir- 
tually gained  release  from  the  hampering  provisions  of  the 
treaty  of  1778. 


2/6  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Adams,  Jefferson  and  Madison. 

Mr.  Adams's  Internal  Policy — Election  of  Jefferson — His  Inauguration — 
Barbary  Powers — Burr's  Projects — Their  Failure — Animosity  between 
England  and  the  United  States — Mr.  Madison  Compelled  to  Make  War. 

UNDER  the  arrangements  at  first  proposed  in  the  Con- 
stitution, the  citizen  who  received  the  largest  number 
of  electoral  votes  was  President,  and  he  who  received  the 
second  number  was  the  Vice-President.  A  worse  arrangement 
could  hardly  have  been  made.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  in  a  bar- 
barous or  selfish  time  nothing  could  tend  more  to  weaken 
the  executive  than  the  certainty  that  the  nearest  rival  of  the 
chief  of  the  Republic  was  the  person  who  would  profit  by  his 
death.  No  such  anxiety  clouded  the  minds  of  men  when 
Thomas  Jefferson  was  the  Vice-President,  while  Adams  was 
the  President.  But  it  was  perfectly  known  that  these  two 
statesmen  represented  the  two  great  parties  which  were  already 
forming  themselves  in  the  Republic. 

Mr.  Adams  made  a  conciliatory  opening  address,  and  un- 
doubtedly hoped,  as  Washington  had  hoped,  that  in  his  ad- 
ministration he  could  reconcile  the  demands  of  moderate 
men  of  both  parties.  Politics  were,  however,  then,  as  has 
been  intimated,  largely  governed  by  the  changes  in  Europe, 
which  were  almost  as  rapid  as  those  of  the  weather- 
cock. France  was  still  suffering  under  the  mismanage- 
ment of  the  Directory;  as  bad  a  government,  perhaps,  as 
was  ever  administered  by  men — acting,  indeed,  on  what 
we  now  know  to  be  the  worst  principle  of  government. 
With  every  change,  as  has  been  seen,  our  envoys  received 
new  rebuffs  and  insults.  It  was  certainly  a  matter  of  good 
fortune  to  America  wrhen  Napoleon  Buonaparte  took  the 
command,  and  gave    steadiness,  if   he    gave  nothing   more, 


ALIEN  AND   SEDITION   LAWS.  2JJ 

to  the  politics  of  the  world.  Before  that  time  America  and 
France  were  virtually  at  war  with  each  other.  In  some  naval 
engagements  in  American  waters  the  frigates  of  the  United 
States  gained  decided  advantages.  It  was  even  customary  to 
fit  out  private  armed  vessels,  and  at  the  end  of  1789,  beside 
the  few  public  ships,  there  were  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
privateers,  mounting  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  guns,  under  the  American  flag.  But  the  commissions 
of  these  ships  authorized  them  to  capture  only  armed  vessels 
of  the  enemy. 

All  such  warfare,  however,  came  to  an  end  in  1800,  when 
the  American  envoys  in  Europe  succeeded  in  making  the 
convention  with  Napoleon,  which  has  been  described.  A 
general  peace  was  in  prospect  for  the  world,  and  in  this  peace 
America  profited  as  well  as  Europe.  But  in  the  half  war 
which  had  existed,  some  fifty  French  vessels  had  been  taken 
by  American  cruisers,  and  many  merchant  vessels  previously 
taken  by  the  French  were  recaptured.  On  the  whole,  the 
firm  stand  of  the  President  and  his  government  against 
French  aggression  was  sustained  by  the  nation.  But  this  was 
considered  as  rather  the  policy  of  the  Federal  party  than 
that  of  their  opponents. 

It  was  in  a  matter  of  internal  policy  that  Mr.  Adams's  ad- 
ministration endangered  itself  at  home.  By  the  passage  of 
two  laws,  familiarly  known  as  the  alien  and  sedition  laws, 
they  attempted  to  repress  the  interference,  which  was  really 
scandalous,  on  the  part  of  foreigners,  with  the  institutions 
of  America.  These  laws  were  made  the  signal  for  an  oppo- 
sition to  his  home  policy  and  to  him,  in  which  were  united  all 
the  various  sections  which  had  originally  opposed  the  Consti- 
tution, and  at  the  same  time  all  those  persons  in  the  agricult- 
ural or  non-commercial  States  who  were  either  jealous  or 
indifferent  to  the  maritime  progress  and  success  of  the  States 
on  the  sea-board.  Mr.  Adams  himself,  in  his  desire  to  carry 
an  even  hand,  or  to  conciliate  his  opponents,  had  singular 
success  in  alienating  his  supporters.  It  was  once  said  of  him 
that  he  never  turned  his  back  on  any  but  his  friends. 


278  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  result  of  the  election  of  the  autumn  of  1800  was  con- 
sequently a  change  in  the  head  of  the  administration,  and  it 
proved  to  be  virtually  the  end  of  the  power  of  the  Federal 
party.  So  far  separated  were  the  States  from  each  other, 
and  so  slow  was  the  communication  between  them,  that  the 
result  was  long  in  doubt.  It  seemed  to  hinge  on  the  vote  of 
the  State  of  South  Carolina,  and  this  State  gave  its  electoral 
votes  to  Jefferson  and  Burr.  The  result  was  that  these  two, 
the  candidates  of  the  Republican  or  Democratic  party,  each 
received  seventy-three  electoral  votes.  Of  the  Federalists, 
Adams  received  but  sixty-five,  Pinckney  sixty-four,  and  John 
Jay  one.  Under  the  Constitution,  as  it  then  existed,  it  was 
necessary  that  the  House  of  Representatives  should  make 
the  choice  between  Jefferson  and  Burr.  All  men  knew,  of 
course,  that  the  people  in  voting  had  intended  that  Jefferson 
should  be  President  and  Burr  Vice-President.  The  Feder- 
alists had  taken  care  to  cast  one  vote  for  John  Jay,  so  that 
Pinckney  should  receive  one  less  than  John  Adams.  But  the 
Democratic  leaders  had  not  ventured  to  risk  even  a  single 
electoral  vote,  so  that  in  the  eye  of  the  Constitution  Burr  and 
Jefferson  had  an  equal  right  to  be  considered. 

In  point  of  fact,  as  was  eagerly  pointed  out  at  the  time, 
Adams  and  Pinckney  represented  a  larger  popular  vote  than 
did  Jefferson  and  Burr  ;  but  the  Constitution  had,  and  has, 
no  reference  to  the  majorities  given  by  the  people  ;  and  the 
House  of  Representatives,  on  which  the  election  now  de- 
volved, was  to  make  its  decision  simply  between  the  two 
highest  candidates,  who  were  the  candidates  of  the  Democratic 
party.  It  was  at  one  time  supposed  that  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  would  give  its  eight  electoral  votes  to  Jefferson  and 
Pinckney,  by  way  of  compliment  to  its  own  son.  Had  this 
critical  vote  been  given  Jefferson  would  never  have  been 
President  of  the  United  States  ;  Pinckney  would  have  been 
chosen,  and  the  political  history  of  parties  and  of  the  govern- 
ment would  from  that  moment  have  changed. 

The  House  of  Representatives,  in  voting  for  President 
under  the  Constitution,  votes,  as  the  old  Congress  did,  by 


JEFFERSON  S   ELECTION.  279 

States,  so  that  the  smallest  State,  Delaware,  had  a  right  equal 
with  that  of  the  largest.  The  Federal  members,  irritated  to 
the  last  degree  that  a  minority  of  the  people,  as  they  thought, 
should  have  chosen  a  majority  of  the  electors,  found  them- 
selves obliged  to  determine  between  two  candidates  brought 
before  them  which  should  be  President.  A  large  majority  of 
them  determined  to  throw  their  votes  for  Burr.  Of  this  de- 
termination the  result  was,  that  while  eight  States  voted  for 
Jefferson,  six  voted  for  Burr,  while  the  votes  of  two  States 
were  divided.  Balloting  began  on  the  nth  of  February,  1801. 
No  result  having  been  reached,  it  continued  until  the  17th  of 
February,  when  thirty-five  ballots  had  been  taken,  all  with 
the  same  result.  Before  the  thirty-sixth  ballot,  Jefferson 
authorized  his  friends  to  say  that  he  would  make  no  changes 
with  regard  to  public  debt,  commerce,  or  the  navy,  and  that 
meritorious  subordinate  officers  ought  not  to  be  removed 
merely  on  account  of  their  political  opinions.  Bayard,  of 
Delaware,  thought  it  was  time  to  end  the  struggle,  and  called 
a  general  meeting  of  the  Federal  members.  The  result  of 
this  meeting  was  that  a  member  from  Vermont  absented  him- 
self at  the  thirty-sixth  ballot,  and  the  two  Maryland  Federal- 
ists voted  blank.  Jefferson  thus  had  a  majority  of  States,  and 
was  elected.     The  Vice-Presidency  devolved  upon  Burr. 

Jefferson  proved  quite  true  to  his  promises,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  coldness  which  he  always  felt  toward  an  organized 
navy,  and  the  indifference  with  which,  like  other  Virginians, 
he  regarded  the  maritime  commerce  of  the  country.  In 
opposition,  like  most  leaders  of  opposition,  he  had  been 
eager  to  check  the  power  of  the  government.  But  once  in 
government,  like  most  leaders  of  administration,  he  was 
eager  and  willing  to  have  a  strong  national  government  as 
ever  was  any  ruler.  For  twenty-four  years  the  dynasty  thus 
established,  for  so  it  must  be  called,  directed  the  central 
councils  of  the  United  States.  It  made  many  errors,  many 
of  them  so  ridiculous  that  they  now  seem  almost  impossible. 
But  as  has  been  shown  in  other  chapters,  the  nation  was 
governing  itself  all  the  time.    It  was  extending  its  agriculture 


280  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

by  a  marvelous  growth.  It  was  extending  its  maritime  com- 
merce with  untold  and  incredible  rapidity.  It  was  develop- 
ing its  western  territory,  and  making  itself,  without  knowing 
n_  it,  to  be  one  of  the  strongest  empires  of  the  world.  In  this 
)  work  the  national  government  hardly  ever  helped,  and  almost 
always  hindered  ;  but,  fortunately  for  the  people  of  America, 
the  men  who  made  their  Constitution  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
central  government  so  little  power  for  evil  that  the  blunders 
of  the  central  administration,  while  at  the  time  they  have 
always  been  matter  of  serious  and  careful  discussion  among 
the  people,  have  in  result  been  like  the  frantic  paddle-strokes 
of  ignorant  voyagers  in  a  canoe,  who  are  attempting  to  force 
it  against  the  current  of  some  mighty  river.  In  the  end  the 
country  has  directed  its  own  destiny,  and  the  follies  of  the 
statesmen  who  have  marred  what  they  could  not  mend  are 
in  general  forgotten,  and  may  be  forgotten  by  this  reader. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1801,  Thomas  Jefferson  was  inaugu- 
rated President,  the  ceremonies  being  celebrated  at  Wash- 
ington for  the  first  time.  The  splendors  of  to-day  were  not 
known  in  the  proceedings.  Jefferson  rode  on  horseback  from 
the  unfinished  White  House  to  the  unfinished  Capitol,  along 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  at  that  day  very  different  from  the 
broad,  smooth  street  of  our  time.  He  delivered  his  inaugu- 
ral address,  took  the  oath,  and  retired  as  he  had  come.  Burr 
had  already  taken  his  oath  of  office  as  Vice-President,  and 
was  presiding  over  the  Senate. 

The  earlier  acts  of  the  administration  were  different,  also, 
from  those  proceedings  which  have  of  late  characterized  the 
beginnings  of  administrations.  Jefferson  was  a  Republican 
President,  his  predecessor  had  been  a  Federalist;  but  he 
was  true  to  his  promises  to  the  Federalists.  The  changes 
made  in  the  civil  service  were  but  few.  Certain  appointments 
made  by  Adams,  on  the  night  before  his  successor's  inaugura- 
tion, were  canceled.  The  commissions  had  in  many  cases 
been  neither  countersigned  nor  issued,  though  they  had  been 
signed  by  Adams.  Other  removals  were  made,  but  sparingly, 
and  on  the  principle  that  officers  guilty  of  official  misconduct 


BARBARY    POWERS.  28 1 

or  inefficiency  were  fit  subjects  for  removal,  but  that  men 
who  knew  their  duty  and  performed  it  properly  were  not  to 
be  ousted  for  political  opinions,  unless  persistently  and  obtru- 
sively expressed.  There  were,  it  is  said,  but  sixteen  removals 
for  political  cause  to  make  room  for  Republicans  who  desired 
office.  The  cabinet  officers  had  been  already  assigned. 
James  Madison  and  Albert  Gallatin  were,  throughout  the 
eight  years  of  Jefferson's  administration,  Secretaries  of  State 
and  of  the  Treasury.  At  the  beginning,  Henry  Dearborn  and 
Robert  Smith  were  placed  at  the  head  of  the  War  and  Navy 
Departments.  Levi  Lincoln  was  Attorney-General  ;  Haber- 
sham was  for  some  time  Postmaster-General,  but  was  shortly 
succeeded  by  Granger.  It  was  a  cabinet  of  able  men,  and 
one  which  worked  well  and  harmoniously  together  and  with 
their  chief. 

The  time  when  Jefferson  came  into  office  was,  on  the  whole, 
one  of  political  inactivity.  The  quarrels  of  Adams's  admin- 
istration had  passed  away  with  their  causes.  The  Federalist 
party  was  in  a  hopeless  minority.  Abroad,  affairs  were  at  a 
lull,  the  treaty  of  Amiens  having  given  a  short  peace  to 
Europe. 

The  most  dramatic  event  in  the  history  of  the  nation  abroad 
during  Jefferson's  administration  was  the  successful  resistance 
to  the  preposterous  claims  of  the  Barbary  powers.  For  more 
than  two  centuries  the  enterprising  rulers  on  the  northern 
coasts  of  Africa  had  succeeded,  by  their  annoyances  and 
depredations  on  the  commerce  of  the  world,  in  persuading  or 
compelling  every  nation  to  pay  them  tribute.  This  was  what 
we  should  now  call  "black-mailing,"  and  resembled,  indeed, 
the  sums  which  were  paid  to  Scotch  marauders  by  Lowland 
husbandmen  for  the  sake  of  protection  against  their  ravages. 
The  new  nation  had  found  itself  expected,  by  these  corsairs, 
to  continue  this  tribute  ;  but  a  series  of  well-conducted  naval 
operations,  begun  by  the  navy  under  Adams  and  continued 
with  the  wreck  of  the  navy  which  Jefferson's  policy  still 
permitted  to  exist,  resulted  in  a  treaty  with  Tripoli,  and  in 
putting  an  end  forever  to  such  exactions  on  the  part  of  these 


282  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

marauders.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  America  that  these  opera- 
tions began  the  series  of  negotiations,  by  force  or  by  diplo- 
macy, in  which  the  civilized  world  exempted  itself  from  such 
an  annoyance. 

These  services  of  the  American  navy  began  in  1800.  Cap- 
tain Bainbridge,  of  the  national  ship  George  Washington,  had 
been  ordered  by  the  Dey  of  Algiers  to  carry  certain  Algerine 
dispatches  to  Constantinople,  and  had  obeyed  the  order. 
The  smaller  powers  were  equally  irritating.  The  Bashaw 
of  Tripoli  had  demanded  a  present  equal  to  that  offered 
to  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  namely,  a  frigate,  offering  to  make 
war  were  it  not  sent.  The  Bashaw  of  Tunis  found  fault  be- 
cause the  naval  stores  sent  in  tribute  were  not  of  as  high  order 
of  excellence  as  he  desired.  The  Emperor  of  Morocco  was 
also  unfriendly.  Although  Jefferson  disliked  the  American 
navy,  it  seemed  the  only  means  at  hand  to  repress  these 
impudent  pretenders.  Commodore  Dale  was  sent  out  with  a 
squadron  of  four  ships  to  make  a  naval  demonstration.  The 
sight  of  the  American  broadsides  and  the  destruction  of  a 
Tripolitan  vessel,  which  proved  necessary,  were  found  to  have 
a  most  soothing  effect  upon  the  ruffled  pride  of  the  monarchs 
of  the  Barbary  States.  Dale  returned,  but  left  two  ships  on 
the  coast.  In  the  succeeding  years,  1802  and  1803,  this  force 
was  strengthened,  and  many  combats  took  place  between  it 
and  the  pirate  vessels.  American  merchantmen  were  con- 
voyed to  their  destinations,  and  the  Barbary  powers  were  kept 
in  some  sort  of  order  ;  but  at  home  it  was  not  thought  that 
enough  was  being  done,  and  in  1803  a  new  squadron  was  sent 
out,  under  Preble,  to  act  particularly  against  the  Bashaw  of 
Tripoli.  The  first  enterprises  were  not  successful.  Bainbridge, 
in  the  Philadelphia,  38  guns,  ran  aground  while  chasing  a 
Tripolitan  ship,  and  the  ship  and  crew  were  captured.  The  ship 
was  got  off  the  rocks  and  carried  into  the  harbor  of  Tripoli, 
where  it  lay  under  the  guns  of  the  castle.  This  disaster  was 
in  some  degree  atoned  for  by  the  gallantry  of  Decatur,  who, 
with  a  small  vessel  and  a  crew  of  seventy-five,  entered  the 
harbor  and  succeeded  in  setting  fire  to  the  ship  and  utterly 


TRIPOLI   HUMBLED.  283 

destroying  her.  But  the  bombardment  of  the  town  was  not 
carried  out  with  vigor.  It  was  evident  that  the  naval  force 
was  not  of  the  efficiency  necessary  to  a  commercial  nation. 
In  1805  Preble  was  relieved  by  Barron  with  a  new  ship,  and 
returned  to  America.  The  squadron  now  consisted  of  ten 
vessels,  some  rated  at  twelve  guns  and  the  largest  at  forty- 
four.  But  this  was  not  sufficient  to  overawe  the  whole  coast  of 
Africa,  and  all  the  Barbary  powers  were  becoming  more  or  less 
hostile.  In  1805  a  land  expedition  was  led  against  Tripoli 
by  Eaton,  United  States  consul  at  Tunis,  who  formed  the  plan 
of  marching  from  Egypt  overland.  He  desired  to  aid  Hamet, 
whom  he  called  the  rightful  prince  of  Tripoli,  who  was  then 
in  exile  in  Tunis.  Eaton  carried  through  his  scheme  with 
some  measure  of  success.  With  Hamet  and  a  nondescript 
army  he  reached  the  province  of  Tripoli.  After  a  march 
through  the  desert,  and  by  the  co-operation  of  the  squadron, 
the  town  of  Derne  was  captured.  This  and  a  threatened 
attack  on  Tripoli  brought  the  Bashaw  to  terms,  and  he  agreed 
on  peace  without  tribute.  But  Hamet  was  not  restored.  The 
Bey  of  Tunis  was  also  overawed,  and  expressed  a  desire  to 
send  an  ambassador  to  the  United  States,  which  was  done. 
As  for  tribute,  when  the  ambassador  mentioned  the  subject 
he  was  refused,  and  did  not  press  the  matter.  The  conclu- 
sion to  these  proceedings  was  reached  ten  years  later,  when, 
the  Dey  of  Algiers  declaring  war  against  the  United  States, 
Decatur  appeared  in  the  Mediterranean,  captured  two  Alge- 
rine  ships,  and  compelled  the  Dey  to  sign  a  treaty  by  which 
all  American  prisoners  were  set  free,  and  all  claim  to  tribute 
was  renounced.  With  this  ended  the  terror  inspired  by  the 
Barbary  powers. 

The  great  diplomatic  victory  by  which  Mr.  Jefferson's 
administration  obtained  possession  of  the  whole  of  what  was 
known  as  Louisiana  has  been  described  in  another  chapter. 
So  soon  as  the  treaty  took  effect,  arrangements  were  made 
first  for  the  temporary  and  then  for  the  permanent  govern- 
ment of  the  settled  region,  which  has  now  extended  into  our 
State  of  Louisiana. 


284  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

It  was  quite  of  course  that  Jefferson  should  be  nominated 
and  elected  for  a  second  term.  But  of  course,  after  what 
had  passed  in  the  vote  of  the  Federalists  for  Burr,  the  Demo- 
cratic party  did  not  name  him  as  its  second  choice.  George 
Clinton  was  chosen  Vice-President,  under  an  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  by  which  the  Vice-President  is  now  chosen 
separately.  In  a  State  election  in  New  York  in  which  Burr 
had  been  defeated,  in  the  year  1804,  he  singled  out  Alexander 
Hamilton  as  the  object  of  his  wrath.  Hamilton  was  at  that 
time  a  leader  in  New  York  politics,  and  had  succeeded 
in  dividing  the  Federal  party  against  Burr.  In  February, 
1804,  Burr  demanded  of  Hamilton  "a  prompt  and  unquali- 
fied acknowledgement  or  denial  of  the  use  of  any  expressions 
which  would  warrant  certain  assertions  made  by  a  third 
party."  On  Hamilton's  refusal,  Burr  sent  a  challenge.  Hamil- 
ton felt  bound  to  accept  it.  On  the  nth  of  July  the  two  met 
on  the  shore  of  New  Jersey,  opposite  the  city  of  New  York. 
Hamilton's  pistol  went  off  in  the  air,  but  he  received  Burr's 
shot  in  the  right  side.  He  was  carried  off  the  field  uncon- 
scious, and  died  the  next  day.  No  death  had  so  struck  the 
public  since  Washington's.  Burr  fled  the  town.  Indictments 
were  found  against  him,  and  he  sank  rapidly  to  a  low  state  of 
degradation  in  public  opinion.  He  was  still  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  although  a  fugitive  from  justice.  In 
March  of  the  next  year  he  lost  even  this  title  to  consideration. 

At  the  end  of  his  term  of  office  he  made  a  journey  to  the 
west,  perhaps  with  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  finding 
what  point  there  was  in  that  new  region  where  he  could 
reconstruct  the  edifice  of  his  political  ambition.  In  that  jour- 
ney, however,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Wilkinson,  who 
was  now  the  commander  of  the  United  States  forces,  and  he 
satisfied  himself  that  there  was  room  for  ambition  which 
sought  for  much  higher  prizes  than  such  as  a  seat  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States.  A  certain 
mystery  still  attaches  to  his  plans,  a  mystery  born  from  the 
fact  that,  neither  he  nor  Wilkinson,  nor  indeed  any  of  the 
other  principal  persons  engaged  in  the  affair,  ever  regarded 


(z\)  ' 


burr's  plans.  285 

the  truth  as  a  very  important  matter  when  they  made  public 
statements.  This  remark  includes  even  many  officers  of  the 
Federal  government  at  the  time.  What  we  know  to  have 
happened  is  this:  that  at  the  end  of  1806,  with  certain  prom- 
ises of  assistance  in  the  Eastern  States,  Burr  made  a  second 
journey  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers.  From  point 
to  point,  as  he  went,  he  enlisted  a  considerable  number  of 
men,  and  in  a  flotilla  of  ten  boats,  with  arms  and  munitions 
of  war,  he  went  down  the  Mississippi  River  and  came  within 
thirty  miles  of  Natchez.  Here  he  met,  for  the  first  time, 
news  that  President  Jefferson  had  issued  a  proclamation 
denouncing  his  expedition  as  treasonable,  and  that  Wilkin- 
son, who  was  now  at  New  Orleans,  had  addressed  the  Legis- 
lature of  Louisiana,  pronouncing  this  an  unlawful  scheme 
for  invading  the  Spanish  dominions. 

It  is  probable  that  this  is  just  what  it  was.  Whether  Burr 
did  or  did  not  intend  in  the  future  to  make  Orleans  the  cap- 
ital of  the  new  State  which  he  proposed  to  form,  is  a  ques- 
tion. What  is  probable  is  that  he  had  no  very  definite  plans, 
but  meant  to  let  the  future  teach  him  the  best  thing  to  do. 
He  may  have  indulged  in  the  hope,  which  after  years  made 
a  proverb,  of  "  reveling  in  the  halls  of  Montezuma."  What 
is  certain  is,  that  he  expected  the  co-operation  of  Wilkinson, 
with  whom  he  had  frequent  interviews  in  the  year  before 
and  with  whom  he  had  maintained  a  regular  correspondence 
in  cipher.  As  we  now  know  Wilkinson  to  have  been  a  trai- 
tor to  his  country  and  a  liar  through  and  through,  it  seems 
probable  that  Wilkinson  had  intended  to  join  in  this  expedi- 
tion, and,  perhaps,  to  contribute  to  it  the  weight  of  the  Amer- 
ican forces.  It  is,  indeed,  an  interesting  question  whether 
Wilkinson  had  not  been  led  to  this  view  from  the  impression 
that  it  might  be  agreeable  to  Jefferson  to  have  this  formida- 
ble rival  operating  in  another  region.  This  is  certain:  that 
neither  Wilkinson  nor  Jefferson,  nor  anybody  else  in  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  had  up  to  this  time  any 
very  friendly  feeling  toward  Spain,  or  any  very  eager  desire 
to  maintain  her  hold  upon  Mexico. 


286  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

All  these  are,  however,  questions  which  will  perhaps  never 
be  answered.  What  is  certain  is,  that  the  determination  of 
the  United  States  to  arrest  the  expedition  broke  it  up.  The 
different  members  of  it  scattered  in  different  directions. 
Burr  himself  fled  across  the  Indian  Territory,  where  he  was 
arrested  by  an  officer  of  the  United  States  and  sent  to  Wash- 
J  ington.  He  was  afterward  tried  for  treason,  in  the  first 
important  state  trial  of  the  young  nation.  The  trial  was  held 
before  Judge  Marshall,  in  Richmond,  Virginia.  Burr  was 
acquitted  on  most  of  the  charges.  A  new  trial  was  ordered 
in  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  because  there  the  offenses,  if  any, 
were  committed.  Burr  gave  bonds  in  three  thousand  dollars 
to  appear  there  for  trial.  At  the  time  fixed  he  did  not 
appear,  and  his  recognizances  were  forfeited.  The  result  of 
the  trial  was  such  as  to  make  it  almost  certain  that,  in  a 
government  constituted  like  ours,  no  prosecution  for  treason 
can  ever  be  so  conducted  as  to  succeed  if  the  forms  of 
English  law  are  really  respected  by  both  sides.  From  that 
moment  Burr  disappears  from  our  history,  and  it  is  a  satis- 
faction that  he  does.  He  was  a  man  absolutely  without 
moral  principle,  and  his  ascendancy  at  an  early  period  of  the 
nation's  life  is  a  painful  reminder  that  the  men  of  those  days 
were  as  easily  fooled  as  the  men  of  any  other  time  ;  and  that 
the  superior  moral  excellence  which  a  grateful  nation  attaches 
to  the  period  of  the  revolution  existed  no  more  then  than  it 
has  existed  in  the  generations  which  have  come  after. 

We  must  now  turn  our  attention  to  foreign  affairs,  which 
hereafter  involved  the  United  States  in  trouble  for  some 
little  time.  It  must  be  recollected  that  the  state  of  Europe 
was  one  of  perpetual  war.  France,  or  rather  Napoleon,  and 
England  were  the  two  powers  whose  relations  with  the 
United  States  were  closest.  With  England  the  United  States 
had  the  sympathy  necessitated  by  a  common  tongue,  a  com- 
mon history,  a  common  race.  For  France  she  had  kindly 
feelings  for  the  assistance  furnished  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  But  it  was  not  her  inclination  toward  either  the  one  or 
the  other  of  the  combatants  that  involved  the  United  States 


BERLIN  AND   MILAN   DECREES.  287 

in  trouble.  Certain  complications  grew  out  of  commercial 
relations  and  principles  of  international  law.  It  is  now  a 
recognized  principle  in  public  law  that  "  free  ships  make  free 
goods."  That  is,  neutral  commerce  with  a  belligerent  coun- 
try must  not  be  interrupted  by  the  other  belligerent,  except 
as  far  as  contraband  of  war  is  concerned.  In  the  beginning 
of  this  century  this  principle  did  not  hold  as  far  as  England 
was  concerned,  and,  her  fleet  being  absolute  on  the  seas,  her 
cruisers  could  assert  any  principles  of  maritime  law  that 
seemed  good  to  her  government.  And  these  principles 
were  very  severe  on  belligerent  goods  carried  in  neutral  ves- 
sels. Now,  as  the  reader  knows,  the  United  States  did  a 
very  large  carrying  trade  with  all  Europe,  and  in  conse- 
quence suffered  severely.  But  this  was  not  the  worst.  In  the 
spring  of  1806  the  King  of  Prussia,  at  the  command  of  Napo- 
leon, excluded  English  vessels  from  all  ports  under  his  con- 
trol. England  retaliated  by  declaring  the  whole  North  Ger- 
man coast  in  a  state  of  blockade.  Napoleon  then  promul- 
gated his  Berlin  decree  (November  1,  1806),  which  declared 
the  British  Islands  and  all  their  ports  to  be  in  a  state  of 
blockade.  A  year  later  (November  n,  1807)  the  English 
passed  "  orders  in  council  "  by  which  all  neutral  trade  was 
forbidden  with  any  countries  with  whom  England  was  at  war, 
or  with  any  ports  from  which  English  vessels  were  excluded. 
These  blockades  were  all  paper  declarations.  Hardly  any 
attempt  to  enforce  them  was  made.  But  a  blockade  in  inter- 
national law  at  that  time  had  this  effect  :  ships  bound  to  the 
blockaded  port  were  fair  prizes  for  the  blockader.  The  conse- 
quence of  these  European  decrees  was  that  any  American 
vessel  which  attempted  to  trade  with  France,  or  any  of  her 
allies,  Germany,  or  the  British  Isles,  was  exposed  to  capture 
by  either  English  or  French  as  the  case  might  be.  This  was 
a  great  blow  to  commerce.  But  the  state  of  things  was  made 
worse  when,  December  17,  1807,  Napoleon,  by  his  Milan  de- 
cree, declared  that  any  vessel  which  should  submit  to  search 
by  a  British  man-of-war,  or  should  touch  in  any  British  port  or 
pay  any  impost  to  the  British  government,  should  be  denation- 


7  4^u7f 


288  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

alized  and  be  fair  prize.  The  commerce  of  the  United  States, 
n  almost  the  only  country  left  neutral,  was  sure  to  suffer  by 
^  these  unjust  regulations;  and  suffer  it  did.  But  negotiation  was 
of  no  avail;  the  orders  and  decrees  were  not  to  be  removed. 

Another  subject  most  distressing  to  American  commerce 
was  the  British  theory  of  impressment.  It  was  held  by  Great 
Britain  that  a  man  once  a  British  subject  was  always  a  Brit- 
ish subject.  From  this,  as  a  particular  deduction,  they  held 
that,  as  the  king  had  a  right  to  impress  any  subject  for  service 
in  the  navy,  he  had  therefore  the  right  to  seize  any  natural- 
ized American  who  had  ever  been  a  British  subject  where- 
ever  he  might  find  him.  The  result  of  this  was  that  the 
British  men-of-war  would  order  American  vessels  to  lie  to, 
would  muster  their  crews,  would  claim  such  of  them  as  they 
chose  as  British  citizens,  and  carry  them  away.  The  cap- 
tain of  a  cruiser  short  of  men  would  have  no  scruples  in 
taking  any  he  could  get  from  any  American  vessel  he  might 
happen  across.  The  consequence  of  all  this  was  a  number 
of  outrages  on  American  commerce.  The  feeling  against 
Great  Britain  was  exaggerated  when  the  Chesapeake,  an 
American  man-of-war,  was  ordered  by  a  British  cruiser  of 
superior  force  to  give  up  certain  of  her  sailors,  claimed  as 
deserters  by  the  British  captain.  The  captain  of  the  Chesa- 
peake refused,  and  the  Leopard  fired  a  broadside  at  her.  The 
Chesapeake,  unprepared  for  battle,  was  unable  to  reply. 
After  three  of  her  men  had  been  killed  and  eighteen 
wounded  she  struck  her  flag.  The  crew  was  mustered,  and 
the  British  picked  out  the  men  they  wanted  and  carried 
them  off,  tried  them  at  Halifax,  and  sentenced  them  all  four 
to  be  hanged.  Only  one  was  executed,  however,  the  other 
three  entering  the  British  service. 

An  outrage  so  flagrant  of  course  excited  the  whole  Ameri- 
can people.  It  is  fair  to  say  that  from  that  moment  war 
with  England  was  inevitable.  Barron,  the  commander  of 
the  Chesapeake,  returned  to  Norfolk  with  his  miserable  story, 
and  from  this  moment  any  reasonable  negotiations  with 
England  were  impossible. 


EMBARGO.  289 

Mr.  Jefferson  was,  however,  wholly  unprepared  for  war. 
Indeed,  it  had  always  been  his  political  theory  that  wars  were 
unnecessary,  and  that  other  methods  could  be  found  by 
which  nations  could  settle  their  discussions. 

These  systems  were  now  to  be  tested.  So  soon  as  news 
was  received  that  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  in  council,  had 
declared  France  and  the  countries  under  her  control  in  a 
state  of  blockade,  the  President  sent  to  Congress  a  recom- 
mendation for  the  prohibition  of  the  departure  of  our  vessels 
from  the  ports  of  the  United  States.  His  impression  was 
that  the  need  of  the  commerce  of  America  was  so  great  that 
England  would  virtually  be  starved  into  giving  better  terms 
in  negotiation.  Congress  at  once  passed  a  law  of  embargo. 
This  prohibited  the  departure  of  any  vessels  from  any  port 
of  the  United  States  to  any  foreign  country,  except  foreign- 
armed  vessels  with  public  commissions,  and  foreign  mer- 
chant ships  in  ballast.  All  vessels  in  the  coasting  trade  were 
to  give  bonds  that  their  cargoes  should  be  landed  within  the 
United  States.  This  bill  passed  by  a  vote  of  two  to  one. 
The  maritime  States  regarded  it  as  an  attack  upon  them 
quite  as  much  as  it  was  an  attack  upon  Great  Britain.  A 
subsequent  bill  compelled  fishing  vessels  to  land  their  car- 
goes in  the  United  States. 

When,  a  few  weeks  after,  Buonaparte's  Milan  decree  ar- 
rived, by  which  he  declared  all  the  countries  of  Great  Britain 
and  her  allies  under  blockade,  the  President  laid  it  before 
Congress  as  a  new  proof  of  the  wisdom  of  the  embargo.  As 
if  to  show  that  he  meant  to  be  prepared  for  more  active  war, 
the  President  asked  for  an  addition  of  six  thousand  men  to 
the  regular  army,  and  these  were  at  once  granted. 

Under  this  suspension  of  commerce  the  country  lived 
through  the  year  1808.  The  maritime  States  were,  of  course, 
reduced,  and  greatly  prostrated.  The  agricultural  States  be- 
gan to  find  that  commerce  and  agriculture  are  closely  con- 
nected. The  powers  of  Europe  showed  no  sign  of  being 
affected  by  the  withdrawal  of  a  commerce  which  had  been  so 
profitable  to  America.  The  session  of  the  new  Congress,  in 
13 


29O  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

December,  1808,  began  by  a  direct  attack  upon  the  embargo. 
But  the  government  was  able  to  show  that  the  importations 
from  abroad  had  still  continued,  the  revenue  had  not  mate- 
rially fallen  off,  and  they  had  sixteen  millions  in  hand  with 
which  to  begin  the  new  year.  New  clauses  were  added  to 
the  embargo  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  it,  and  as  the  win- 
ter passed  the  House  and  Senate  discussed  measures  for 
strengthening  the  army  and  the  navy. 

Gradually,  however,  the  administration  learned  that  war 
must  be  conducted  by  some  more  active  methods  than  the 
starvation  of  its  enemies  ;  and  after  the  experiment  of  a  year 
it  was  agreed  by  Congress,  on  the  3d  of  February,  that  the 
embargo  should  cease  on  the  1st  of  March.  The  committee 
on  foreign  relations  proposed  to  substitute  for  it  a  non-inter- 
course  with  France  and  Great  Britain.  This  change  of  pol- 
icy was  a  great  mortification  to  Mr.  Jefferson.  He  ascribed 
it  correctly  to  an  unaccountable  revolution  of  opinion,  a  kind 
of  panic,  chiefly  among  the  New  England  and  the  New  York 
members.  His  own  personal  influence  in  the  councils  of 
Congress  had  now  nearly  ceased.  At  the  election  of  the  last 
year  his  own  candidate  for  his  successor,  Madison,  had  been 
elected,  and  there  was  no  longer  any  wish  in  Congress  to 
favor  Mr.  Jefferson's  personal  designs.  His  work  ended  when 
he  determined  that  Mr.  Madison,  and  not  Mr.  Monroe,  should 
be  his  successor.  In  fact,  at  this  moment  there  was  a  cool- 
ness between  Jefferson  and  Monroe  because  the  President 
had  refused  to  consider  the  English  treaty. 

It  may  be  wondered  why  the  United  States  did  not  go  to 
war  with  France  rather  than  with  England.  The  reason,  per- 
haps, lies  (aside  from  the  fact  that  England's  all-powerful 
navy  could  enforce  her  decrees  while  France  could  do  little) 
in  two  additional  causes ;  namely,  impressment  and  the  con- 
duct of  the  Indians  on  the  Canadian  border.  Examples  of 
each  of  these  causes  occurred  in  the  early  part  of  181 1.  In 
May  an  American  brig  was  ordered  to  lie  to  by  the  British 
frigate  Guerriere,  38  guns,  and  a  native  American  was  im- 
pressed.    This  was  followed  by  an   event  which  appears  to 


TIPPECANOE.  291 

have  been  unconnected  with  it  in  any  way  save  popular  im- 
pression. The  American  ship  President,  44  guns,  meeting 
with  the  English  Little  Belt,  ordered  her  to  lie  to,  and  on 
the  order  being  refused,  sent  a  broadside  into  her  which  crip- 
pled her  badly.  The  public,  conceiving  that  the  President 
had  sailed  to  demand  the  man  seized  by  the  Guerriere,  were 
much  pleased  at  the  occurrence,  and  looked  on  it  as  a  right- 
eous retribution  for  the  case  of  the  Chesapeake. 

The  western  complications  at  this  time  led  to  an  Indian 
war.  There  were  at  this  time  two  brothers  among  the  Indians 
in  northern  Indiana,  named  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet. 
Through  the  influence  of  these  men  the  Indians  in  that  part 
of  the  country  became  greatly  stirred  up  against  the  whites, 
and,  being  further  excited  and  persuaded  by  British  agents 
across  the  Canada  line,  they  resolved  to  go  upon  the  war- 
path against  the  frontier  settlements  of  the  north-west  coun- 
try. Harrison,  then  Governor  of  the  Indiana  Territory,  was 
on  the  lookout  for  hostilities.  They  came  to  a  head  in  the 
summer  of  181 1,  and  Harrison,  leaving  Vincennes  with  a  con- 
siderable force,  met  the  savages  at  the  Prophet's  town  on  the 
Tippecanoe.  They  appeared  to  be  friendly  at  first,  but 
attacked  him  treacherously  by  night.  After  a  sharp  battle 
the  Indians  were  defeated,  and  fled,  dispersing  in  all  directions. 
The  feeling  against  England  grew  more  and  more  bitter  after  this 
affair,  for  plain  evidence  appeared  that  the  Indians  had  been 
incited  and  armed  by  English  agents.  The  national  feeling 
was  by  this  time  thoroughly  roused  against  England. 

Mr.  Madison's  position  was  that  of  a  statesman  who  had 
always  been  subordinate  to  an  imperious  director.  For 
such  a  director  was  Mr.  Jefferson.  Mr.  Madison  had  no  wish 
to  make  a  war  with  England,  but  so  soon  as  he  was  President 
he  found  that  a  new  generation  was  stepping  on  the  stage 
which  did  not  mean  to  be  controlled  by  him  or  by  any  one.  At 
first,  things  seemed  favorable  for  peace.  Conciliatory  dis- 
patches came  from  England.  The  restrictions  on  English 
commerce  were  removed.  A  thousand  merchantmen  rushed 
across    the   ocean  to  engage  in  the  trade  which    had  been 


292  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

forfeited.  The  miseries  of  the  embargo  were  for  the  mo- 
ment at  an  end.  But  the  transient  hopes  of  the  sea-board 
States  were  soon  blighted.  A  Tory  ministry  in  England  dis- 
avowed the  acts  of  their  negotiator  in  Washington.  Madison 
and  his  friencjs  proposed  an  American  Navigation  Act,  which 
should  exclude  English  and  French  ships  from  American 
harbors  and  give  all  trade  to  the  Americans.  But  to  this 
Congress  would  not  assent.  The  President  could  not  direct 
Congress  in  America,  as  in  England  the  government  refused 
to  be  bound  by  its  own  negotiator. 

The  elections  to  the  Congress  of  181 1  made  it  clear  that 
poor  Mr.  Madison,  who  had  served  one  master  for  eight  years 
to  earn  his  seat,  must  now  serve  other  masters  still.  The 
young  blood  of  the  Democratic  party,  represented  by  Henry 
Clay,  of  Kentucky,  and  John  Caldwell  Calhoun,  insisted  upon 
war.  Mr.  Madison  hesitated  and  wavered.  But  Mr.  Clay 
headed  a  committee  which  told  him  that  he  should  not  be 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  presidency  again  unless  he 
declared  war.     The  President  was  obliged  to  yield. 


PREPARATIONS   FUR  WAR.  293 


o 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

The   War    of    1812. 

Meeting  of  Congress— The  President  Recommends  War— War  Proclaimed 
—General  Hull's  Failure— The  Canadian  Campaign— Actions  at  Sea— 
Constitution  and  Guert iere— Other  Naval  Battles— Negotiations— New 
Election— General  Proctor— Commodore  Chauncy—  Perry's  Battle  for 
the  Command  of  Lake  Erie— Battle  of  the  Thames— General  Arm- 
strong's Campaign— The  Year  1813  at  Sea— Battles  near  Niagara 
River--Washington  Taken— Attack  on  Baltimore— Review  of  Naval 
Warfare— Battle  of  New  Orleans— Negotiation  of  Peace— Effect  of  the 
War. 

N    November   4,   1811,  the   tenth    Congress   assembles. 

.,  '  The  air  is  heavy  with  approaching  war.  The  Con- 
gress in  its  very  make  up  is  seen  to  be  a  body  which  differs 
from  those  which  have  gone  before  it  in  the  new  blood  in- 
fused into  it,  in  the  younger  men  who  are  seizing  the  direction 
of  affairs.  The  young  West,  hot  for  war,  sends  Henry  Clay, 
who  is  chosen  speaker.  John  Caldwell  Calhoun  is  a  leader 
in  the  house,  in  earnest  for  a  vigorous  policy. 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  at  once  sounded  the 
war  note,  and  measures  were  at  once  entered  upon  to  raise 
the  efficiency  of  army  and  navy.  Army  bills  and  navy  bills  were 
passed  by  large  majorities.  The  war  spirit  was  heightened 
by  the  publication  of  the  Henry  correspondence,  which  showed 
Canadian  intrigue  to  bring  about  a  separation  of  New  England 
from  the  rest  of  the  Union.  On  the  3d  of  April  a  ninety  days 
embargo  was  declared,  as  a  preparatory  war  measure.  On 
both  sides  of  the  great  lakes  diligent  work  was  done  in  recruit- 
ing soldiers  and  building  ships. 

On  June  1st  the  President  sent  in  his  war-message.  He  re- 
cited the  causes  for  complaint-impressment,  sham  blockades, 
orders  in  council,  violation  of  neutral  rights,  complicity  with 


294  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

the  Indians.  Congress  passed  an  act  declaring  war,  on  June 
18,  and  the  President  at  once  made  proclamation  that  war  ex- 
isted.   Henry  Dearborn,  of  Massachusetts,  one  of  the  su 


rvivors 


of  the  Revolution,  was  appointed  commander-in-chief. 

The  first  enterprise  of  the  army  was  unfortunate.  William 
Hull,  an  officer  of  the  regular  army,  who  had  served  with  dis- 
tinction in  the  Revolution,  was  in  command  of  the  American 
forces  in  Michigan.  He  had  been  ordered  to  be  in  readiness 
to  invade  Canada.  So  soon  as  war  was  declared  he  marched 
from  Ohio  with  about  two  thousand  men,  mostly  militiamen, 
very  little  used  to  military  discipline.  Had  the  government 
notified  him  of  its  intention  a  little  earlier,  the  issue  might 
have  been  different.  But  in  fact  the  English  surprised  the 
fort  at  Mackinaw  before  Hull  could  re-enforce  it.  Heald,  who 
was  at  Fort  Dearborn,  where  Chicago  now  stands,  was  directed 
to  withdraw  his  garrison  and  meet  Hull  at  Detroit.  The  In- 
dians of  the  neighborhood,  tempted  by  a  premium  which  the 
English  Colonel  Proctor  had  offered  for  scalps,  attacked  the 
retiring  party,  and  compelled  them  to  surrender.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  English  victories.  On  the  16th  of  August 
General  Brock,  in  command  of  two  thousand  regulars,  crossed 
the  Detroit  River  and  compelled  Hull  to  surrender  the  post  at 
Detroit.  Hull  had  before  crossed  into  Canada,  but  had  re- 
tired before  Brock.  He  did  not  believe  that  he  could  depend 
upon  the  militia  for  service,  and  he  knew  that  his  officers  had 
conspired  to  depose  him  from  command.  The  disappointment 
of  the  nation  required  a  victim  ;  Hull  was  tried  by  court-mar- 
tial and  condemned  to  be  shot.  Madison,  however,  who  knew 
how  the  government  had  neglected  him,  pardoned  him,  as  in 
decency  he  was  obliged  to  do.  Under  the  pressure  of  the 
same  public  sentiment,  Eusfcis,  the  Secretary  of  War,  resigned. 

In  October,  Van  Rensselaer,  the  American  commander  at 
Niagara,  crossed  the  Niagara  River  and  attacked  the  English 
lines,  but  the  attack  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  Americans  re- 
tired with  the  loss  of  a  thousand  men. 

On  the  ocean  the  United  States  was  more  successful.  As 
early  as  the  13th  of  August  the  Essex  fought  the  Alert,  an  En- 


NAVAL  SUCCESSES.  295 

glish  ship,  and  compelled  her  to  strike  her  colors.  In  the  next 
week,  in  a  battle  which  excited  immense  enthusiasm,  the 
American  frigate  Constitution,  under  Hull,  a  nephew  of 
General  Hull,  engaged  the  English  frigate  Guerriere  and  com- 
pelled her  to  surrender.  The  battle  began  at  five  in  the 
afternoon,  and  at  seven  o'clock  the  Guerriere,  lying  with  her 
masts  all  shot  away,  in  such  a  state  as  to  make  further  re- 
sistance useless,  the  English  commander,  Dacres,  surrendered. 
The  Guerriere  was  in  such  state  that  she  could  not  be  taken 
to  any  port,  and  was  set  on  fire  and  blown  up. 

In  October  the  frigate  United  States  engaged  the  Mace- 
donian successfully  and  sent  her  into  the  harbor  of  New  Lon- 
don. By  one  of  the  charming  compensations  of  history,  in 
the  year  1848  the  Macedonian  was  sent,  laden  with  food,  by 
the  government  of  the  United  States  to  the  relief  of  the  starv- 
ing people  of  Ireland.  In  December  the  Constitution,  under 
Bainbridge,  engaged  the  frigate  Java  and  vanquished  her. 
The  Java  was  so  much  injured  that  she  was  blown  up.  It 
was  after  this  action  that  the  Constitution  received  the  name 
which,  in  history  and  poetry,  she  has  since  borne,  of  "  Old 
Ironsides."  These  victories  were  won  in  six  months  ;  and  by 
the  navy  and  by  privateers  three  hundred  English  merchant- 
men were  in  that  time  brought  into  American  ports,  with  three 
thousand  prisoners. 

Later  in  the  year  other  victories  occurred.  In  October  the 
Wasp,  18  guns,  met  with  the  English  Frolic,  18  guns,  and 
after  a  severe  fight  boarded  and  captured  her.  The  ships 
had  cannonaded  each  other  for  less  than  an  hour  before  the 
Americans  boarded  her,  and  when  Lieutenant  Biddle  with  a 
boarding  party  reached  the  Frolics  deck  there  was  no  one 
to  oppose  him.  Biddle  pulled  down  the  Frolics  flag  with  his 
own  hands.  This  was  a  fair  victory,  for  the  two  brigs  were 
nearly  equal  in  metal  and  men.  But  except  for  the  moral 
effect  it  resulted  in  nothing  for  the  Americans,  for  both  ves- 
sels were  immediately  taken  by  the  British  ship  Foictiers,  74 
guns,  which  carried  them  both  into  Bermuda. 

This  was  a  most  successful  showing  for  the  navy,  and  it  was 


1/ 


296  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

taken  by  the  people  at  its  full  worth  and  more.  The  captains  of 
the  successful  ships  were  covered  with  honors,  received  swords 
and  gold  boxes,  and  the  American  navy  was  exalted  to  the 
skies.  By  the  English,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  asserted,  and 
in  most  cases  with  some  ground,  that  the  victories  were  never 
gained  where  there  were  equal  conditions;  that  the  American 
frigates  were  really  ships  of  the  line  in  disguise;  that  they  car- 
ried picked  crews,  and  so  on.  Which  amounts  to  this:  that 
the  Americans  built  larger  frigates  than  was  then  the  custom 
abroad,  and  manned  them  more  heavily  and  more  carefully. 

Through  the  year  there  were  efforts  made  to  gain  some  sort 
of  negotiation  for  peace,  but  nothing  came  of  it.  In  the 
autumn  the  presidential  election  occurred,  and  Madison  and 
Gerry  were  elected.  The  adminstration  was  in  a  majority  in 
Congress,  and  war  measures  were  passed,  and  little  else. 

General  William  Henry  Harrison,  afterward  the  President, 
was  put  in  command  of  a  new  army  of  about  ten  thousand 
men  for  the  service  of  the  next  year  on  the  west  of  Canada. 
His  advance  was  attacked  in  January  by  a  force  of  English 
troops  and  Indians,  under  Proctor.  The  attack  was  successful. 
A  considerable  portion  of  the  Americans  surrendered,  but  were 
then  left  to  the  mercy  of  the  Indians,  who  killed  them  all, 
General  Proctor  then  besieged  Harrison  at  Fort  Meigs,  but 
his  siege  was  unsuccessful.  Three  months  later  he  attacked 
Fort  Stevenson,  on  the  Sandusky,  but  without  success.  The 
invasion  of  Canada,  or  its  defense,  depended  upon  the  com- 
mand of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.  Both  parties  understood  this, 
and  both  parties,  as  rapidly  as  possible,  were  building  fleets. 
Commodore  Chauncy,  in  April,  attacked  York,  a  frontier  village 
now  known  as  Toronto.  In  the  attack  General  Pike  and  the 
assailing  column  were  blown  up  in  the  explosion  of  a  maga- 
zine. He  was  an  officer  of  great  intelligence,  and  a  great  loss 
to  the  American  army.  At  the  other  end  of  the  lake  the 
English  genera],  Prevost,  attacked  Sackett's  Harbor.  He 
was  obliged  to  retire.  But  meanwhile  the  American  store- 
houses were  burned  for  fear  they  should  fall  into  the  enemy's 
hands. 


PERRY  S  VICTORY.  297 

The  campaign  on  Lake  Ontario  had  thus  been  unsuccessful 
for  the  Americans.  But  on  Lake  Erie  they  were  happy- 
enough  to  have  a  naval  force  under  the  command  of  Perry. 

The  English  had  had  a  fleet  of  no  great  value  on  the  lake 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  Americans  had  set  them- 
selves at  work  at  Presque,  Isle  to  build  one  as  fast  as  possible. 
In  August,  Perry  set  sail  with  two  heavy  gun-brigs,  the  Law- 
rence and  the  Niagara,  and  seven  smaller  vessels  carrying 
from  two  to  five  guns  apiece.  Barclay,  the  English  com- 
modore, had  under  him  six  vessels,  and  was  inferior  to  the 
American  fleet  both  in  metal  and  men.  Barclay  attempted 
unsuccessfully  to  prevent  the  American  fleet  from  getting  to 
sea;  they  succeeded,  and  met  the  English  on  September  10. 
The  two  fleets  at  once  engaged,  at  about  eleven  in  the  morn- 
ing. The  fighting  at  the  head  of  the  line  was  very  sharp. 
The  Lawrence,  Perry's  flag-ship,  which  led  the  line,  was 
exposed  to  the  combined  fire  of  the  English,  and  lost  four 
fifths  of  her  men.  Perry  himself  fired  the  last  gun,  having 
only,  it  is  said,  his  purser  and  chaplain  on  deck.  Perry,  on 
this,  resolved  to  shift  his  flag  to  the  Niagara,  which  was  com- 
paratively fresh.  He  was  rowed  across  to  his  new  flag-ship  in 
a  small  boat.  In  the  Niagara  he  at  once  broke  through  the 
enemy's  lines,  firing  on  each  side  as  he  passed  through.  Bar- 
clay struck  his  flag  at  about  3  o'clock.  "  We  have  met  the  en- 
emy," wrote  Perry  to  General  Harrison,  "and  they  are  ours — 
two  ships,  two  brigs,  one  schooner,  and  one  sloop."  The 
battle  was  hotly  and  well  contested  on  both  sides.  The  re- 
sult gave  the  Americans  the  command  of  Lake  Erie.  Harri- 
son, meanwhile,  had  been  preparing  to  invade  Canada.  Now 
that  he  commanded  Lake  Erie,  he  pressed  the  English  gen- 
eral hardly.  He  recovered  Detroit,  and  followed  the  retreat- 
ing army.  On  the  5th  of  October  Proctor  offered  battle  on 
the  river  Thames.  The  brunt  of  the  battle  was  sustained  by 
his  famous  ally,  Tecumseh,  and  the  Indians.  But  Tecumseh 
was  himself  killed,  and  the  Indians  and  the  English  were 
broken.      The    Americans    thus    regained    the    Territory    of 

Michigan. 
13* 


298  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 

In  October,  Armstrong,  the  Secretary  of  War,  had  com- 
pelled Dearborn  to  retire.  Wilkinson,  the  western  traitor, 
was  Dearborn's  successor.  Late  in  October  he  embarked  his 
forces  to  move  down  the  St.  Lawrence  for  a  movement  which 
should  end  at  Montreal.  After  some  successes  Wilkinson 
abandoned  the  expedition,  having  received  word  from  Gen. 
Wade  Hampton,  who  commanded  the  right  wing,  that  he 
would  not  make  the  junction  which  he  was  ordered  to  make. 
The  year  1813  thus  passed  without  any  successful  attack  on 
Canada  excepting  that  of  Harrison.  But  in  the  western  part 
of  New  York  the  English  crossed,  and  destroyed  several  vil- 
lages, among  others  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock.  The  only 
American  successes  on  the  land  were  Harrison's  victories  in 
Michigan,  and  those  won  by  Andrew  Jackson,  who  now  makes 
his  first  appearance  in  a  military  career  of  importance  against 
the  Creek  Indians  at  the  South. 

In  the  year  1813,  Congress  authorized  the  building  of  four 
ships  of  the  line,  six  frigates,  and  six  sloops-of-war,  besides 
the  vessels  required  on  the  lakes.  On  the  1st  of  June  the 
unfortunate  frigate  Chesapeake  went  out  from  Boston,  under 
the  command  of  James  Lawrence,  to  meet  the  English  frigate 
Shannon  under  Broke.  Lawrence  had  the  winter  before 
sunk  the  English  sloop  of  war  Peacock,  when  command- 
ing the  Hornet.  The  Chesapeake  was  beaten  in  sight  of  the 
highlands  in  the  Boston  Bay,  and,  to  the  amazement  and 
grief  of  the  multitudes,  was  carried  away  to  Halifax.  Law- 
rence had  rashly  taken  her  to  sea  with  a  new  crew,  without 
experience,  and,  in  fighting,  his  vessel  suffered  what  might 
have  been  expected  from  their  want  of  discipline. 

The  successes  on  each  side  at  sea  this  year  nearly  counter- 
^y  balanced  each  other.  The  American  ship  Argus  was  taken 
\  by  the  Pelican,  and  the  English  Boxer  was  captured  by  the 
J  American  brig  Enterprise,  14  guns.  This  last  fight  was  most 
vigorously  contested.  Burrows  and  Blythe,  the  two  command- 
ers, were  both  killed.  The  Boxer  s  flag,  which  was  nailed  to 
the  mast,  had  to  be  finally  torn  down,  and  the  ship  surren- 
dered.    In  this  year  the  Essex,  under  Captain  Porter,  made  a 


lundy's  lane.  299 

successful  and  daring  cruise  in  the  Pacific,  which,  unfort- 
unately, did  not  end  as  well  as  it  had  begun.  He  had  set  out 
from  Delaware  Bay  and  proceeded  alone  around  Cape  Horn 
into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where  he  was  most  successful  in  seizing 
armed  whalers.  He  refitted  his  ship  in  Noua  Keevah  Island, 
of  which  he  took  possession  for  the  United  States,  changing 
its  name  to  Madison  Island.  He  then  made  for  the  coast  of 
Peru,  where,  in  the  harbor  of  Valparaiso,  he  met  with  the 
British  frigate  Phcebe  and  the  sloop-of-war  Cherub.  In  March, 
1814,  Porter,  after  having  in  vain  attempted  to  meet  the 
Phabe  singly,  tried  to  run  out  of  the  harbor  by  night.  He 
lost  his  main-topmast  in  so  doing,  and  lay  to  in  neutral  waters 
to  repair  it.  The  two  English  ships  now  attacked  him,  and, 
being  at  this  advantage,  they  managed  to  stand  off  and  fire 
at  the  Essex  until  half  her  crew  were  killed  or  wounded. 
The  ship  herself  had  caught  fire  several  times  and  had  been 
riddled  with  shot  when  Porter  surrendered. 

The  year  18 14  showed  a  repetition  of  the  plans  for  the 
invasion  of  Canada,  but  with  results  much  the  same  as  in  the 
former  year.  On  the  2d  of  July,  Gen.  Brown,  an  American 
officer,  crossed  the  Niagara  River,  invested  Fort  Erie  and 
took  it.  He  pressed  the  English  force,  and  on  the  5th  de- 
feated them  after  a  well-fought  action.  But  Brown  had  not 
the  assistance  of  the  navy,  and  was  obliged  to  retire.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  the  battle,  afterward  well  remembered  as 
Lundy's  Lane,  was  fought.  It  was  one  of  the  hardest  ever 
fought,  considering  the  number  of  men  engaged.  Brown  and 
Winfield  Scott,  who  was  then  a  young  man,  and  Jessup,  who 
afterward  held  high  command  in  the  American  army,  were 
all  wounded.  The  English  army  was  larger  and  its  loss  was 
larger.  The  American  army  fell  back  to  its  camp  on  the 
Chippewa.  The  English  attempted  to  recover  Fort  Erie,  and 
lost  many  men  in  the  effort.  But  the  English  general  was 
obliged  to  abandon  the  siege.  In  October,  however,  the 
Americans  destroyed  the  fort  and  returned  to  their  own  side 
of  the  river.  On  the  northern  frontier  of  New  York,  where 
Lake    Champlain    makes   an  easy   entrance    into  that  State, 


300  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

the  English  general,  Prevost,  moved  southward,  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  English  naval  forces.  He  was  met  by  Ma- 
comb, in  command  of  the  American  troops  at  Plattsburg, 
and  McDonough,  who  commanded  a  fleet  of  eighty-six  guns 
on  the  lake.  The  result  was  a  defeat  of  the  English.  The 
American  victory  was  complete  on  water  and  shore,  and  Pre- 
vost retreated  to  Canada. 

The  same  autumn  General  Ross,  with  thirty-five  hundred 
men  who  had  had  the  best  training  which  the  world  could 
give — under  Wellington  in  Spain — arrived  in  the  Chesapeake. 
Admiral  Cockburn,  of  the  English  blockading  squadron,  was 
able  to  give  him  the  assistance  of  a  thousand  marines.  With 
this  force  he  landed  about  forty  miles  below  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington. Armstrong,  in  his  eagerness  to  attack  Canada,  had 
done  little  or  nothing  to  defend  the  city.  Genera]  Winder 
was  in  command.  He  called  in  such  militia  from  Virginia 
and  the  neighborhood  as  he  could  collect,  and  with  six  hun- 
dred regular  troops  formed  his  line  of  battle  at  Bladensburg. 
But  he  had  no  confidence  in  himself  and,  if  possible,  less  in 
his  troops.  The  only  serious  fighting  was  done  by  a  body  of 
six  hundred  American  marines  who  for  a  little  time  held  the 
English  advance.  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  burned  the 
navy  yard  at  Washington,  and  Ross's  army  took  possession  of 
the  city.  They  spared  the  post-office  building,  because  it 
contained  the  patent  office,  and  the  English  officer  was  told 
that  the  models  were  of  importance  to  civilization.  They 
burned  the  President's  house  and  the  unfinished  Capitol. 
Ross  then  withdrew,  naturally  expecting  that  some  American 
force  would  gather  for  the  rescue  of  the  capital.  But  he 
regained  his  ships  without  molestation. 

Flushed  with  this  victory,  with  Admiral  Cochrane  he  moved 
up  the  Chesapeake  to  threaten  Baltimore.  The  people  of 
Baltimore  had  undertaken  their  own  defense.  Under  Gen. 
John  Strieker,  they  moved  an  army  of  three  thousand  volun- 
teers from  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  to  defend  the  city. 
Ross  himself  was  killed  by  a  sharp-shooter.  Fort  McHenry 
resisted  successfully  the  attack  of  the  enemy's  vessels,  and 


THE   STAR  SPANGLED   BANNER." 


301 


the  English  enterprise  was  abandoned.  Of  this  successful 
resistance,  the  memorial  most  familiar  to  the  American  peo- 
ple is  the  national  song  of  the  "  Star  Spangled  Banner," 
which  was  written  at  this  time  by  Mr.  Key,  an  American  gen- 
tleman who  was  actually  on  the  English  fleet  under  a  flag  of 
truce  negotiating  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners. 


Reister   o  Emory  Grove 
town  o  .  *  ' 
Glyndon  0' 


"VICINITY 

OF 

BALTIMORE 


On  the  sea  not  so  much  was  done  this  year  as  before.  The 
British  navy  blockaded  the  whole  coast  of  the  United  States, 
the  frigates  generally  sailing  in  company  for  the  sake  of  assist- 
ance in  case  of  battle.  The  Admiralty  had  very  properly 
issued  orders  that  no  English  38-gun  frigate  should  engage 
with  one  of  the  heavier  American  frigates  if  she  could  help 
herself,  and  owing  to  these  orders  there  were  by  no  means 
the  number  of  single-ship  battles  that  had  before  occurred. 
The  Frolic,  18  guns,  under  Bainbridge,  was  captured  by  the 


302  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

English  frigate  Orpheus,  36  guns.  The  Peacock,  18  guns,  met 
the  English  brig  Epervier,  18  guns,  and  captured  her  in  three 
quarters  of  an  hour.  The  Wasp,  18  guns,  a  vessel  of  the 
same  class  as  the  Frolic  and  the  Peacock,  sailed  for  the  En- 
glish Channel,  and  there  met  the  Reindeer,  18  guns,  a  vessel 
of  weaker  armament.  The  Reindeer,  however,  made  a  brave 
fight.  After  a  fierce  cannonade,  in  which  the  American  ship 
had  the  advantage,  owing  as  much  to  her  heavier  metal  as  to 
her  superior  gunnery,  the  ships  closed  and  the  Americans 
boarded.  The  captain's  clerk  of  the  Reindeer,  the  officer  of 
highest  rank  left,  surrendered  the  ship.  The  Reindeer  gave 
up  only  to  superior  force  in  men  and  guns.  The  Wasp  went 
into  the  port  of  L'Orient  to  refit,  and  issuing  forth  fell  in 
with  the  British  brig  Avon,  18  guns.  The  fight  began  at  half- 
past  nine  at  night,  and  was  carried  on  with  great  vigor  till 
ten,  when  the  Avon  struck.  The  Wasp  was  about  to  take 
possession  of  the  prize,  when  the  English  brig  Castilian,  18 
guns,  hove  in  sight,  and  running  down  to  the  Avon  rescued 
her  men.  The  Avon  at  once  went  down.  The  Wasp  con- 
tinued on  her  cruise  southward,  but,  after  speaking  one  or 
two  vessels,  she  was  never  heard  of  again. 

The  next  year  the  Hornet,  under  Biddle,  met  and  captured 
the  Penguin,  of  almost  exactly  the  same  force.  This  was  the 
last  of  the  single-ship  duels  of  the  war,  the  only  manner  in 
which  the  little  American  navy  could  show  its  valor  against 
the  enormous  navy  of  Great  Britain.  There  were  twelve  of 
these  encounters.  Two  of  them  were  largely  to  the  credit 
of  the  English  :  the  capture  of  the  Chesapeake  and  the  Argus. 
The  battles  in  which  the  Wasp  captured  the  Reindeer,  and 
the  Enterprise  the  Boxer,  two  American  victories  showed  by 
no  means  any  inferiority  on  the  part  of  the  English.  But  the 
captures  of  the  Guerriere,  the  Macedonian,  the  Java,  the 
Frolic,  the  Peacock,  the  Penguin,  the  Epe?-vier,  and  the  Avon, 
even  allowing  for  the  frequent  heavier  force  of  the  Amer- 
icans, were  victories  won  by  superior  seamanship,  disci- 
pline and  courage,  of  which  any  navy  would  be  proud. 
More  than  one  of  these  battles  were  fought  after  peace  was 


^Jjw^j^^4'  t  «f 


THE  BATTLE   OF  NEW   ORLEANS.  303 

declared,   before  it  had  been   heard  of  by   the   contending 
forces. 

It  is  a  sad  thing  to  say  that  the  same  is  true  of  the  great  vic- 
tory of  New  Orleans,  in  which  Andrew  Jackson,  at  the  head 
of  a  force  of  men  who  were  militia  from  the  States  above, 
defeated  the  English  army.  The  English  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  Pensacola,  though  it  was  nominally  a  Spanish  town, 
and  used  it  as  a  station  to  fit  out  expeditions  against  Mobile 
and  New  Orleans.  But  Jackson  drove  them  out  from  Pensa- 
cola and  repulsed  their  attack  on  Mobile. 

Their  attack  on  New  Orleans  was  more  serious,  as  the 
prize  was  more  important.  At  the  outset,  the  English  over- 
came the  American  gun-boats  in  Lake  Borgne,  which  is  one 
of  the  approaches  to  New  Orleans.  They  were  thus  enabled 
to  land  twenty-four  hundred  men  nine  miles  below  the  city. 
Jackson  attacked  them  with  about  two  thousand.  Each  side 
lost  more  than  two  hundred  men,  but  there  was  no  decisive 
issue  to  the  action.  The  next  week  General  Pakenham,  the 
English  commander,  was  re-enforced  by  two  thousand  men. 
In  that  region  there  are  no  heights  to  seize,  and  on  the  dead 
level  of  "  the  coasts  "  one  spot  is  as  commanding  as  is  another. 
There  was  no  room,  therefore,  for  engineering  strategy,  and 
on  the  8th  of  January,  Pakenham,  with  the  brute  courage 
of  his  nation,  advanced  in  two  columns  on  the  American 
lines.  Each  column  was  preceded  by  a  regiment  bearing  lad- 
ders and  fascines ;  midway  were  a  thousand  Highlanders, 
ready  to  support  an  attack  on  either  wing.  Jackson's  men 
were  mostly  frontiersmen,  well  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  rifle.  "7 
His  artillery  was  served  with  coolness  and  precision.  It  is 
said  that  the  entire  van  of  one  English  column  melted  away 
before  a  single  shot  of  a  thirty-two  pounder  discharging  a 
bushel  of  musket  balls.  Both  the  pioneer  regiments  wav- 
ered. Pakenham,  Gibbs,  Keene,  and  Dale  fell,  dead  or 
wounded,  in  attempting  to  rally  them.  Three  English  officers 
reached  the  American  breast-work.  Two  fell  dead  as  they 
mounted  it.  The  third  asked  for  the  swords  of  two  Amer- 
icans who   met    him,  who    bade   him  look  behind  him.     He 


^7 


A 


304  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

turned  to  find  that  the  men  he  thought  were  following  him 
had  vanished  away.  In  twenty-five  minutes  the  action  was 
over.  The  English  had  lost  seven  hundred  men  killed,  four- 
teen hundred  wounded,  and  five  hundred  prisoners.  The  loss 
of  the  Americans  was  but  seventeen. 

This  battle  made  the  fame  of  General  Andrew  Jackson. 
~X-  It  made  him  President  of  the  United  States.  It  gave  the 
nation  a  just  confidence  in  its  power  for  war,  properly  led,  and 
it  has  much  to  do  with  the  birth  of  national  feeling  which, 
is  the  great  and  important  result  of  the  war  of  181 2.  But  it 
took  place  fifteen  days  after  the  treaty  of  peace  had  been 
signed,  at  Ghent. 

As  has  been  already  intimated,  there  was  no  real  reason  for 
carrying  on  the  war  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  All  Europe 
was  sighing  for  peace.  All  question  as  to  neutral  vessels  and 
as  to  the  impressment  of  seamen  died  of  themselves  so  soon 
as  peace  was  gained.  There  were  enough  other  questions 
open  between  America  and  England  for  diplomatic  quarrel. 
Most  of  those  questions  have  remained  open  ever  since.  But 
there  was  no  question  open  longer  worthy  of  the  terrible 
arbitrament  of  war.  The  English,  as  has  been  said,  never 
wanted  to  make  war.  The  American  government  had  only  won 
disgrace  at  home  by  its  method  of  carrying  it  on,  and  appointed 
envoys  to  negotiate  peace  in  the  summer  of  1814.  These 
envoys  made  a  treaty  in  which  the  questions  of  boundary 
were  determined  by  reference  to  commissions  which  were 
to  lay  out  boundary  lines  upon  the  spot.  The  relations  of 
the  English  with  the  Indians  in  what  was  still  called  the 
North-west  Territory  were  adjusted,  and  the  question  of  im- 
pressment was  passed  over.  Christmas  Day  at  Ghent  cel- 
ebrated the  return  of  peace  to  Europe  and  to  the  world. 

The  history  of  this  second  war  with  England  begins  with 
the  President's  confidential  message  of  June  1,  181 2,  and  the 
able  report  approving  of  the  war  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  Chair- 
man of  the  House  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  It  closes 
with  a  treaty  of  peace  made  at  Ghent,  by  the  commissioners 
of  the  two  nations  on  December  24,  1814.     When  it  began, 


THE   SIGNIFICANCE   OF  THE   WAR.  305 

Napoleon  was  in  the  pride  of  his  power,  starting  upon  his 
Russian  campaign.  Jefferson  and  his  friends  had  always 
sympathized  with  the  French,  and  had,  indeed,  more  than 
they  knew,  been  drawn  into  this  conflict  in  the  feeling  that 
they  had  a  strong  ally.  Before  the  war  had  lasted  a  year  the 
French  were  in  full  retreat.  The  battle  of  Leipsic,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1 813,  put  an  end  to  the  continental  ambitions  of  Na- 
poleon, and  the  United  States  had  no  longer  a  reason  for 
continuing  war  when  all   the   rest  of  the  world  was  at  peace. 

The  war  was  so  largely  dependent  on  foreign  complications, 
there  was  so  little  adequate  preparation  for  it  by  either  combat- 
ant, and  it  was  really  so  difficult  for  either  nation  to  injure  the 
other,  that  with  the  exception  of  the  naval  battles,  which 
have  been  described,  and  of  the  remarkable  defense  of  New 
Orleans,  it  presents  none  of  the  critical  events  which  give 
distinction  to  chapters  of  history.  True,  an  English  maraud- 
ing force  took  and  burned  the  city  of  Washington.  But  this 
event  is  only  important  as  it  taught  the  world  that  Washington 
is  not  the  capital  of  the  United  States  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  Paris  is  the  capital  of  France,  or  London,  of  England. 
The  fall  of  Washington  was  as  important  as  that  of  any  other 
town  of  a  few  thousand  inhabitants,  and  no  more  so. 

But  the  war  has  a  great  importance  in  the  history  of  this 
nation,  because  it  proved  to  the  nation  that  it  was  a  nation, 
and  this  it  hardly  knew  before.  It  tested  the  power  of  the 
national  government,  and  though  that  government  made  many 
absurd  mistakes  and  failures,  it  learned  from  its  mistakes  and 
repaired  its  failures.  The  navy,  which  had  been  despised  by 
Jefferson,  proved  its  necessity  and'its  right  to  be,  and  earned 
the  enthusiastic  gratitude  of  the  nation. 

As  soon  as  the  war  was  over,  the  immense  and  rapid  ad- 
vance of  the  United  States  in  every  victory  of  peace  and  in 
all  the  lines  of  national  life  began.  Parties  disappeared  from 
politics.  What  was  called  an  era  of  good  feeling  began.  The 
nation  knew  it  was  a  nation.  The  people  began  to  see — what 
more  and  more  it  knows — that  its  success  depends  on  an 
upright  and  honorable  public  opinion,  an  intelligent   enter- 


~? 


306  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

prise,  on  its  refusal  to  entrust  power  to  any  class,  and  on  open 
lines  of  promotion. 

At  this  era  this  volume  of  history  may  close.  The  next 
volume  must  be  written  when  the  materials  are  more  ac- 
cessible than  they  are  now  for  the  history  of  the  generation 
still  upon  the  stage. 


INDEX 


A 

PAGE 

Abercrombie,  James,  General 131,  135 

Acton  soldiers  at  Concord 159 

Adaes 238 

Adams,  John,  in  1776,  247;  his  admin- 
istration, 242;  internal  policy 276 

Adams,  Samuel 146,  147,  152,  153 

Albemarle,  Lord 92 

Alert,  the,  captured  by  the  Essex. .294,  295 

Algonquins 75 

Alien  and  sedition  laws 277 

Allen,    Samuel,    proprietor    of    New 

Hampshire 112,  117 

A lliance,  frigate iqo 

Alliance  with  France 178 

Amadas,  Captain 27 

American  prisoners  in  England 188 

Amsterdam  Separatists 43 

Andre, .John,  adjutant  general  of  En- 
glish army 195 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund 87,  98 

Annapolis 116 

Krbella,  ship 54 

Aichdale,  Gov.  of  Carolina  in  1695,  '96.  120 
Argus,  the,  taken  by  the  Pelican.  . .  .  298 
Armstrong,  John,  Gen.,  210;  his  cam- 
paign  293,  298 

Arnold,    Benedict,    General,    attacks 

Quebec,  166;  after  life 175,  195 

Artaquette,  d' 229 

Articles  of  Confederation 205 

Ashley,  Lord 92 

A  ugusta,  in  Georgia 123 

Avalon,  planted  by  Lord  Baltimore.. .  35 

B 

Bacon,  Nathaniel 94 

Bainbridge,  William,  Commodore....  282 

Balch,  John 51 

Baltimore,   Lord 35 

Baltimore  attacked,  successfully  re- 
sists the  English 301 

Barbary  Powers 281 

Barlow,  one  of  Raleigh's  expedition..  27 

Barron ...  288 

Bashaw  of  Tripoli 282 

Bashaw  of  Tunis 282 

Baton  Rouge 232 

Battles  :  of  Bennington,  174  ;  Bunker 
Hill,  162;  Bladensburg,  300;  Con- 
cord, 158  ;  Eutaw,  2or  ;  Lake  Erie, 
297;  Lexington,  159;  I  undy's  Lane, 
294  ;  New  Orleans,  303;  Monmouth, 
178  ;  Plattsburg,  300  ;  Saratoga,  175  ; 

the  Thames 293 

Baum,  General 174 

Bayard,  of  Delaware ? . . .  279 

Beacon  Hill 89 


PAGE 

Bean,  Ellis  P.. 239 

Bellingham,  Richard,  Governor 82 

Bellomont,  Earl  of,  Governor  of  New 

Jersey 106,  113,  114 

Bennington,  battle  of 174 

Berkeley,   Sir    W.,   Governor  of  Vir- 

„*?"?•••:•  w / 39,78,93,97 

Berkeley,  in  Massachusetts 17 

Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees 287 

Bermuda 34 

Bienville,  Gov.  of  New  Orleans 224,  227 

Blackbeard,  the  pirate 127 

Black  Prince  and  Princess 183 

Bladensburg,  Battle  of 300 

Bloody  Brook 66 

Blue  and  buff 165 

Boone,  Daniel   214 

Boscawen,  Admiral 133 

"  Boston  Massacre." 146 

Boston,  54  ;  town  meeting  on  tea,  152  ; 

Port  Bill,  155  ;  siege  of. 165 

Boxer,   the,  captured  by  the  Enter-  / 

prise  v/298 

Braddock.  Edward,  General ss:.  128 

Bradford,  Governor  William 73 

Bradstreet,  Governor  Simon 80,90 

Bradstreet,  General  John. 134 

Brewster,  William,  Governor 46 

Breyman,  Col.,  at  Bennington 174 

Brock,  General 294 

Bromheld,  Major 203 

Brown,  Gen.,  takes  Fort  Erie,  loses  it, 

is  wounded  at  Lundy's  Lane 299 

Brown,  Robert 43 

Buffalo,  destroyed  by  English 298 

Burgoyne,    General   John,    163,    173  ; 

his  surrender 175 

Bute,  Earl  of 143 

Burke,  Edmund 262 

C 

Cabot,  Sebastian 19 

Calhoun,  John  Caldwell,  leader  of  the 

House  in  181 1 293 

Calvert,  George 35 

Calvert,   Leonard 35 

Calvert,  Philip 37 

Campbell,  Colonel 181 

Camden  in  South  Carolina 201 

Canseau 116 

Cape  Ann 43,  51 

Cape  Cod 46 

Cape  Fear 91 

Carleton,    Sir    Guy    (afterward    Lord 

Dorchester) 212,  234 

Carmichael,  William    270 

Carolinas,  early  history 91 

Carrying  trade 264 


308 


HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


Carteret,  Sir  George 78, 

Cartwright 

Cerf,  cutter 

Charles  II. 

Chateaubriand 

Cherub,  frigate 

Chesapeake,  frigate,   298  ;    beaten  by 

Shannon 

Church,  Capt.  Benjamin 

Civil  freedom 

Clarendon,  Lord 

Clark,  General  Rogers 

Clark,  William 

Clay,    Henry,   chosen   Speaker  of  the 

House  in  Nov.,  1811 

Clayborne,  in  Chesapeake  Bay 

Clinton,  George 

Clinton,   Henry,  General 167,  178, 

Cockburn,  Admiral  George 

Columbia  Kediviva 

Commercial  enterprise   

Committee  of  Safety  of  Massachusetts     158 

Conant,  Rogers 51 

Concord,  battle  of 158 

Confederation 205 

Connecticut,  in    17th   century,   90 ;  in 

18th  century 115 

Constitution  of  United  States  adopted.     251 
Constitution,    the,    fights   the    Guer- 

7'iere 295 

Continental  Congress 138,  161,  164,  212 

Continental  Currency 207 

Continental  Force 209 

Convention,  for  making  a  constitution.     249 

Conway,  Gen.  Henry  Seymour 202 

Conyngham,  Gustavus 183 

Cornvvallis,  Earl,  168,  172  ;  he  advan- 
ces to  Virginia,  and  his  surrender..     191 

Cotton,  John,  Rev 57 

Cotton,  industry  in 259 

Council  for  Safety  in  Boston 90 

Countess  0/  Scarborough,  frigate 183 

Cradock,  Matthew , 52 

Crown  Point,  129  ;  evacuated 137 

Culpepper,  Thomas,  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia        97 

Cutler,  Manasseh,  Rev 221 


Dane,  Nathan 243 

Davis,  Isaac,  Capt.  of  Acton  Comp'y.  159 

Dearie,  Silas,  early  negotiations 191 

Dearborn,  Gen.  Henry,  281;  appoint- 
ed commander-in-chief    in   1812....  294 

Decatur,  Stephen,  Commodore 282 

De  Gourgues 25 

De  Leon,  Juan  Ponce 19 

Detroit,    266  ;     its    surrender   to    the 

English  in  1812 294 

De  Soto,  Hernando 21 

Dieskau,  Baron 129 

Dinwiddie,  Robert,  Gov.  of  Virginia..  119 

Dolphin,  cutter. . .    1S7 

Dorchester  Adventurers 51 

Dorchester,  Lord,  Gov.  of  Canada..  .  234 

Dudley,  Joseph    87,   114 

Dudley,  Thomas,  Governor 53 

Duquesne,  .Marquis 128 

Duquesne,  fort 133 


E  PAGE 

Early  Diplomacy 265 

East  India  Company 149,  150 

Eaton,  Gen.  William 283 

Ebenezer,  in  Georgia 123 

Elizabeth,  Queen 27 

Elkins,   Jacob 74 

Ellsworta,  Chief  Justice 274 

Embargo 289 

Emigration 245,  264 

Endicott,  John,  Governor 51 

Enterprise,  the,  captures  the  Boxer .  298 

Epervier 302 

"  Era  of  Good  Feeling,  The" 305 

Essex,  the,  fights  the  Alert,  294,  295  ; 

captured 298 

Eutaw,  battle  of 201 

Exploration  in  Kentucky 214 

Eyre,  Colonel ■  •  •  203 

F 

Fearnot,  privateer 183 

Federal  Constitution 249 

Finances  of  the  Confederacy 205 

Fletcher,  Benjamin,  Governor  of  New 

York 103,  106 

"  Flower  of  Essex  " 66 

Forts,  Amsterdam,  73  ;  Conde,  232  ; 
Duquesne,  126  ;  taken,  134,  135  ; 
Erie,  266;  Franklin,  220;  Y  ronte- 
nac,  130;  Lee,  172  ;  McHenry,  300  ; 
Miamis,  214;  Niagara,  130;  Orange, 
74  ;  St.  Andrews,  124  ;  St.  George, 
124;  Steuben,  220;  Venango,  220; 
Vincennes,    220  ;  Washington,  172  ; 

William   Henry 132 

Fox,  Charles  James 201 

Frankland 218 

Franklin,  Sir  John,  his  discovery 26 

Franklin,   Benjamin,  151,  152,   154  ;  in 

France 175,  191 

Franklin,  State  of 215 

Freeman,  Major  Thomas 94 

French  and  Indian  Wars in 

French  Claims 214 

Freydis 16 

Frolic,  the,  taken  by  the  Wasp 295 

Frolic,   the,   under    Bambridge,    cap- 
tured by  English  frigate  Orpheus . .  301 
Frontenac.  Count,  Gov.  of  Canada, 105,  111 

G 

Gage,  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  155,  158 

Gallatin,  Albert 281 

Gardoqui,  Charge  d'Affaires 270 

Garay 19 

Garrison  in    Boston 138 

Gates,  Sir  Thomas 33 

Gates,  Horatio,  Gen.,  166,  174-175  ;  at 

Saratoga,  175  ;  at  Camden 191,  193 

Genet,  as  an  envoy 256 

Georgia 123 

Germaine,  Lord  George 176,  193 

George  III.,  n8,  139,  154  ;  a  statue  of.  144 

Ghent,  peace  signed  at 304 

Gilbert,  Humphrey , 26 

Girty,  Simon 217 

Gist,  Christopher 211 

(iladstorrb,  W.  E.,  cited 247 

Godoy,  "  prince  of  peace  " 271 


INDEX. 


309 


PAGE 

Golden  Hind,  the 26 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando 49,  85 

Gorges    Robert 49 

Grafton,  Duke  of 149 

Granger,  Gideon 281 

Greene,  General  Nathaniel 200,  259 

Grenville,  George 159 

Grenville,  Richard 27 

Guerriere,  frigate,  290  ;  surrenders  to 
the  Constitution 295 


Habersham,  Joseph 

Hadley,  in  Philip  s  war 

Half  Moon,  the  ship 

Harriet  of  Tripoli 

Hamilton,  Alexander. 236,  253, 

Hammond,  English  minister 

Hampton,  Wade 

Hariot,  the  mathematician 

Harrison,  Gen.  William  Henry,  291  ; 
put  in  command  of  western  army, 
besieged  at  tort  Meigs, 296;  recovers 
Detroit,  beats  the  English  and  In- 
dians on  river  Thames 

Harrod,  James 

Heald,  Colonel 

Heath,  Gen.  William 

Henderson,  Colonel 

Hennepin,  Father 

Henry,  Patrick 

Higginson,  John,  Rev 

Hodge,  William 

Hopkins,  Ezekiel,  and  his  captures.   . 

Hornet,  298  ;  under  Biddle,  captures 
the  Penguin 

Howe,  Admiral  Lord I7°i 

Howe,  General  Sir  William.162,  165,  172, 

Howe,  Lord,  General 

Hudson,  Henry 

Hull's  Failure,  General,  293  ;  com- 
pelled to  surrender  at  Detroit,  his 
condemnation,  Madison  obliged  to 
pardon  him 

Humphrey 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Anne 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  Gov.  of  Mas- 
sachusetts  138,  142,  146,  151, 


Iberville,  Lemoyne 224 

Illinois 2I4 

Impressment 288 

Indiana 214 

Indian  War 75 

Industry  in   Cotton 250 

Ingoldsby,  Major,  Gov.  of  New  York.  104 

Iroquois 76 

Island  of  Kent 37 


Jackson,  Andrew,  fights  Creek  Indians 
at  the  south,  298;  drives  English 
from  Pensacola.  repulses  their  attack 
on  Mobile,  attacks  English  below 
New  Orleans,  and  resists  their  at- 
tack on  the  city 3°3 

Jackson  Square,  in  New  Orleans 230 

James  II.  (Duke  of  York) 78 


PAGE 

Jamestown 96 

Java,  frigate,  captured   295 

Jay's  Treaty 265 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  242,  253,  276  ;  in- 
augurated    280 

Jeffreys,  Colonel  Herbert,  Gov.  of  Va.  97 

Jessup,  General 290 

Johnson,  Lady  Arabella 54 

Johnson,  Sir  William  S 129 

Jones,  John  Paul 183 

Jumonville,  Coulon  de 128 

K 

Kalb,  de.  Baron 194 

Kaskaskia 214 

Keith,  George 103 

Kent,  Island  of 37 

Kidd,  William,  Capt 106,  116 

Lieft,  William,  Governor,  75;  recalled.  77 

King  Edward's  Prayer  Book 42 

Knights  of  the  Golden  Horseshoe  ...  119 

Knox,  John 42 

Knox,  county  of,  in  Maine 245 

Knox,  Gen.  Henry 253 

Knyphausen,  General 176 

l_ 

Lafayette,  M.  P.  R.  Y.  C.  M.,  Gen- 
eral  191,  192,  197 

Lancaster,  town  of 68 

Lane,  Ralph 27 

Law,  John 227 

Lawrence,  James 297,  298 

Le  Bon  Homme  Richard igo 

Lee,  Charles,  Gen.,  166  ;  his  misbe- 
havior   179 

Lee,  Major  Henry 182 

Leif,  discovers  America 14 

Leisler,  Jacob,  Gov.  of  N.  Y 104,  105 

Leopard,  frigate 288 

Leverett,  Governor 85 

Lewis,  Meriwether 241 

Lexington,  battle  of 159,  160 

Lexington,  privateer 187 

Leyden 45 

Lincoln,  Earl  of _ 54 

Lincoln,  Gen.  Benjamin 181 

Lincoln,  Levi 281 

Lincoln,  county  of. 245 

Little  Belt,  ship-of-war 291 

Livingston,  Robert 240 

Locke,  John 92 

Lothrop,  Captain,  at  Bloody  Brook. .  66 

Loudon,  Earl  of 131 

Louisburg  taken    117 

Louisiana,  Territory  of 227 

Lovelace,  Governor  of  New  Jersey...  78 

Lovel,  General 1S2 

Lundy's  Lane,  battle  of 299 

M 

Macomb,  Gen.  Alexander,  commands 

American  troops  at  Plattsburg 300 

Macedonian,  frigate,  surrenders  to 
United  States,  used  to  convey  food 

to  starving  people  of  Ireland,  1848. .  295 

Mackinac 266 

McClure,  Robert,  Capt 26 


3io 


HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


PAGE 

McDonough,    Thomas,    Capt.,    com- 
mands American  fleet  at  Plattsburg.  300 

"  Mad  Anthony  " 182 

Madison,  James 281,  296 

Manchac 232 

Manhadoes  Island 81 

Manhattan  Island 73 

Marbois,  Barbe 240 

Marietta 221 

Marion,  General  Francis 201 

Marlboro,  town  of,  in  danger 68 

Marshall,  Judge,  John 286 

Massachusetts  Bay,  50,  52  ;  Massachu- 
setts Assembly  addresses  the  King, 

152  ;  members  of  Congress 157 

Massasoit , 63 

Matagorda  Bay 226 

Mather,  Cotton 113 

Mayflo%ver,  ship 44 

Mayhew,  Thomas   59 

Medal  voted  to  Washington 167 

Merry  mount , 48 

Metacomet  63 

Michigan 214 

Michilimackinac  266 

Minuit,  Peter 73 

Minute  Men 156,  159,  160 

Miranda,  General  Francisco 236 

Mishawuru 54 

Missionary  Work 59 

Mississippi  River 270 

Monroe,  James 273 

Montcalm,  Marquis  de 131 

Montesquieu,  "  L'Esprit  des  Lois'1...  247 

Montmorin,  Count  de 272 

Montreal,  three  simultaneous  attacks.  137 

Moquis 21 

Morristown 172 

Moultrie,  Colonel  William 168 

Mount  Hope  Bay 14 

Mount  Vernon 199 

Mutiny  Act,  the 148 

Murray,  Vans 274 

N 

Nahant 72 

Napoleon  Bonaparte 237 

Narragansetts 64,  68 

Natchez  Indians 228,  232 

Naumkeag 52 

Navigation  Act,  the   138 

Navigation  of  the  Mississippi 2  33 

Negroes  from  Guinea 34 

Neutrals 263 

Newburg  Letters 205 

New  England,  41,  58,  80  ;  the  confed- 
eration    58 

New  Hampshire,  58,  85;  proprietor..  T12 

New  Haven 58,  181 

New  Jersey   101 

New  Netherland 81 

New  Orleans,  battle  of 303,  304 

New  Rochelle 76 

Niagara 266,  297 

Nicolls,  Colonel 77 

Nipmucks ; 65 

Nolan,  Philip 237 

North-western  Discovery 26 

North-west  Territory 220 


PACK 

North,    Lord,    149 ;    Prime   Minister, 
146,  150,  155,  180;  "all  is  over,"  191; 

resigned 202 

Norton 80 

Noua  Keevah  Island 299 

Norwalk 181 

O 

Oglethorpe,  James,  Gov.  of  Georgia..  122 

Ohio 214 

"  Old  Ironsides" 295 

Oliver,  Peter 142,  151 

Orange 79 

O'Reilly,  Governor  of  Louisiana 231 

Oriskany 175 

Orkney,  Lord,  Governor  of  Virginia..  118 

Orquiasco 238 

Oswegatchie 266 

Oswego 134,  266 

P 
Pakenham,  Gen.,  English  commander 

at  battle  of  New  Orleans 303 

Palfrey,  Peter 51 

Pallas,  ship 190 

Paper  Money 205 

Parker,  Admiral 168 

Parker,  Captain,  at  Lexington 159 

Parris,  Samuel 113 

Paulus  Hook 182 

Peace  of  Paris 137 

Peacock,  the,  298  ;  its  capture 302 

Pelican,  the  ship 298 

Penn.  William 99,  101 

Penobscot  River 182 

Pensacola 231 

Pepperell,  William 117 

Percy,  Lord,  Hugh,  afterward  Duke 

of  Northumberland 160 

Perier,  Governor  of  Louisiana 229 

Perouse,  Admiral,  I.  F.  G.  de  la.....  262 
Perry.  Commodore  Oliver  Hazard,  his 

success  on  Lake  Erie 297 

Pettyquamscot 67 

Philip's  War,  63  ;  his  death 69 

Phillips,  General,  death  of 191 

Philadelphia 102,  282 

Phips,  Sir  William,  Gov.  of  Mass.,  109; 

sent  to  England no,  112 

Phoehe,  frigate 299 

Pickanillany,  a  French  post 127 

Pickering,  General  Timothy 245 

Pinckney,  Charles  C 273 

Pinckney,  Thomas 271 

Pike,   General 296 

Piscataqua   481  53<  85 

Pitcairn,  Major 159 

Pitt,  William 138,  H3 

Place  d'Armes,  at  New  Orleans 230 

Plattsburg,  battle  of 300 

Pocahontas 33 

Pollock,  Oliver 232 

Plymouth 00 

Poictiers 295 

Poor  Richard's  Maxims 191 

Porter,  Capt.,   commands  the  Essex, 

2Q4,  208  ;  voyage  to  the  Pacific 299 

Port  Royal  surrendered 109 

Powhatan 33 


INDEX. 


311 


PAGE 

President,  frigate 29* 

Preston,  Captain,  in  Boston  Massacre.  146 

Prevost,  Gen.,  his  western  campaigning  296 

Prideaux,  General *36 

Prince  of  Orange b9 

Princeton J72 

Private  armed  vessels 277 

Privateer  fleet  of  the  country 184 

Proctor,  Gen.  opposes  Harrison 296,  297 

Protest  against  Navigation  Act,  138  ; 

againstTaxation . M" 

Puritan,  the  name  in  England 4* 

Puritan  spirit  weakening 83 

Putnam,  Major  Israel *35 


Quakers 

Quebec 

Queen  Elizabeth 


Raleigh,  Sir  Walter 26 

Randolph,  Edward .. •       «5 

Randolph,  Edward,  Attorney-General     253 

Ranger,  ship-of-war 

Rappahannock _ 

Ratification  of  treaties 

Rawdon,  Lord 

Reprisal,  ship-of-war 

Revenue  from  stamps 

Revere,  Paul 

Rhode  Island 5», 

Robinson,  John 

Rochambeau,  Count  de 192, 

Rockingham,  Ministry 

Rolfe,  John • •••• 

Ross,  Gen.,  arrives  in  the  Chesapeake, 
takes  Washington  and  threatens  Bal- 
timore    with     Admiral     Cochrane; 

killed  by  sharpshooters 

Rowlandson,  Mrs 


PAGE 

Slaughter,  Henry,  Gov.  New  York. . .  104 

Smith,  John,  Captain 3° 

Smith,  'Robert 281 

Sons  of  Liberty 138,  x42 

Spain  in  Louisiana 231 

Speedwell,  ship 4" 

Spotswood,  Alexander,  Gov.  of  Va. . .  118 

Stamp  Act,  passage  and  repeal.  . 138 

Star-Spangled  Banner,  origin  of  song 

of  that  name 3QI 

State  governments 247 

Statues  of  Pitt  and  George  III 138 

St.  Augustine 25i  I22,  231 

St.  Clair,  General  Arthur 174.  254 

Steuben,  Baron  Frederick  William.. . .  197 

Stevens,  Henry . ■ 20 

Stormont,  Lord,  complaints  of 103 

Stoughton,  William,  Judge 113 

Strieker,  John 3°° 

Stuy ve-^ant,  the  wooden-legged 78 

Sugar  Loaf  Hill *74 

Sullivan's  Island ™8 

Sullivan,  General  John *79 

Swansea °4 


207 
109 

184 

"3 


Sackett's  Harbor  attacked  by  General 

Prevost 

Saint  Simon 

Salem 52 

Salem  witchcraft 

Salle,  Robert  Cavalier  de  la 224 

Saltonstall,  Commodore l82 

San  Antonio 23B 

San  Mateo 25 

Saratoga,  battles  of x75 

Savannah  River I23 

Savannah •■••-i-yv  lSl 

Scott,  Winfield,  wounded  at  Lundy  s 

Lane ■  299 

Schenectady  taken ■  •  •  io5 

Schuyler,  General  Philip J 74 

Scrae'llings •••• T5 

Scrooby,  village  in  England 44 

Serapis,  frigate  taken 183 

Settlement  of  the  West 214 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of. •  •  •  9= 

Shannon,  the,  takes  the  Chesapeake.  298 

Shelburne,  Lord 202 

Skeleton  in  Armor • *7 

Skelton,  Emanuel,  Puritan  preacher. .  53 


245 
105 


196 


Talleyrand • •    •  • 

Talmage,  Captain,  at  Schenectady. 

Tampa  Bay 

Tarleton,  Banastre 

Tea  Act,  the 138,  15°!  x52 

Teach,  Ned,  apirate I21 

Tea,  thrown  overboard J53 

Tecumseh,   ally  of  the  English,  291  ; 

killed  at  River  Thames 297 

Ternay,  Admiral J92 

Tennessee 2'4 

Texas *V 

Thomas,  General  John.   . .  •     l07 

Thorwald 

Thorwaldsen 

Ticonderoga, 
by  the  Frencl 

Tippecanoe 

Tobacco 

Townshend,  Charles J44 

Transylvania 

Trenton 

Tryon,  Governor 

Tupper,  Benjamin 

Turner 

Tyrker ^y  ••  ■ 

United  States,  the,  fights  the  Mace- 
donian   


u 


133,  l64i  1 
ich 


74; 


abandoned 


5 
i5 

136 
291 
34 
148 
214 
172 


United  States,  Constitution  of. 


Valley  Forge 
Vane,  Henry 


i77 
57 


Fwiller,  Wouter 74 


Van 

Van  Rensselaer 

Vengeance,  frigate. . . . . . 

Vergennes,  French  Minister 

Verazzano,  French  pirate 

Vincennes 

Vinland 

Virginia 27' 


294 

1 90 
183 

90 

214 
146 


28,  33,  "8 


312 


HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


PAGE 

Virginia,  general  history  of. 33 

Volney,  C.  F.  C,  Count  de 245 

W 

War  of  1812,  declared  June  16 203,  294 

Ward,  Artemas,  General 160,  161 

Warren,  Commodore. 116 

Washington,  Colonel  John 94 

Washington,  George,  94,  128 ;  letter 
from,  138,  155,  156,  161  ;  resigns,  205  ; 
his  administration  as  President,  242, 

253  ;  he  leaves  office 257 

Washington,  George \  frigate 282 

Washington,   city   of,    taken  by  Gen. 

Ross 300,  305 

Wasp,  the,  captures  the  Frolic.  Tak- 
en by  the  Poictiers . . .    295 

Wasp,  the,  her  successes  and  disap- 
pearance       302 

Wayne,  Anthony,  General 181,255 

Wedderburn,  Alexander 151 

Wesley,  Charles 124 

Wesley,  John 124 

West,  Benjamin 139 

Western  Domain 242,  243 

Western  Reserve 244 

West  Florida 231 


PAOB 

Weston,  Thomas,  settler  in  Mass 48 

Wheelwright,  John 57 

White,  Rev.  John 51 

Whitney,  Eli,  inventor  of  cotton  gin  . .  260 

Whictingham,  William 42 

Wicklif,  John 42 

Wilkinson,     James,     Governor,     235 ; 

succeeds  Dearborn ,  298 

William  IV 202 

William  of  Orange,  King  of  England.  108 

William  and  Mary  College 98 

W  illiams,  Roger 55 

Williamsburg 98 

Winder,  General  William  H 300 

Winthrop,  John 53 

Witchcraft  cases 312 

Wolfe,  James,  General 136 

Wbllaston 48 

Wyoming 245 

Y 

Yale  College,  1701 115 

York,  capture  of,  in  Maine in 

Yorktown,  siege  of 191 

Z 

Zunis 21 


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